Perfection
by xMoonlightx
Summary: It all started with Rukia trying to show how perfect she can be to Ichigo, but as a mysterious hollow shows up, they felt as if they're being pulled towards an even bigger mess than the hollow.Adventure/Romance/Humor.Chap1 & 17 rewritten. IxR & UxO.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own BLEACH.

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**Perfection**

_Chapter One_

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It was a bright morning in Karakura Chou. The blazing sun shone its intense rays at the said city, seemingly proud that all of the stupid clouds had been blown away by the loyal wind. With the said clouds mumbling its oath to get its revenge, and so begin this story...

Kuchiki Rukia walked calmly beside Kurosaki Ichigo, both are on their way to Karakura High. Holding a magazine in her hands, she read them without paying any attention to her surroundings, much to Ichigo's dismay. His scowl was deeper than usual, since _he_ had to look out after her for some reason. What was that reason again?

Oh, right.

Because of his _dad_.

**_SCREECH!_**

"Watch out!" Ichigo shouted as he pulled Rukia's right arm back. The raven-haired shinigami stumbled backwards, but did not fall. Instead, she keeps her feet steady, and flipped a page with her dainty index finger.

The gray-white van that was about to hit her stopped suddenly - after much effort from the driver, of course -, barely missing a lamp post beside it. The driver stuck his head out of the window and yelled for Rukia to be more careful before driving away safely. Rukia, hearing her name being said, nonchalantly flapped her palm up and down, eyes still locked to the darned magazine.

Ichigo sighed in relieve. This is the _fifth_ time he had to pull her out of harm's way. _First_, she was walking straight to those fancy fences with _spikes_, _second_, she almost walked into a trench, _third_, she almost stepped on _the_ crazy pitbull's head (there was a rumor going around Karakura that _someone_ has stupidly stomped on the poor pitbull's head again and again and _again_, until it went crazy), _fourth_, she almost walked into the river that they always crossed, and at _last_, she almost had a van speeding at 80 km/hour run over her.

_'That is _it_!' _he thought. He was pretty tired of saving her butt every time and he was _also_ tired of the extra patrolling last night. He glared menacingly at the reading Rukia, clenching his fist in anger.

Rukia, sensing that someone _might_ be glaring at her, stopped her reading and looked upwards. What do you know, she was right. There was a pair of chocolate-brown eyes glaring at her menacingly, bad aura slowly radiating off him. She sighed in frustration before crossing her arms and asked, "Why are you glaring at me?"

"You don't say. I was _glaring_?" Ichigo answered with another question.

"Drop the sarcasm, Ichigo. I'm asking you a question here."

"Well heck, why _wouldn't_ I be glaring?! _I_ had to save your stupid midget butt every single time you went into danger because of _that_ darned magazine!" he pointed accusingly at the magazine Rukia was reading. "Why are you reading a magazine, anyway? What happened to that shoujo horror manga you had? What was it called again? Uhm... The Jade Hermitage?"

"Oh yeah! I was lending it to Inoue since she said that she had nothing better to do at home when she's alone, you know, after she had done all of her homewo--"

"That's not the point!"

"Well then, Mr. Genius, what _is_ the point of this conversation?" she raised an eyebrow.

"The point is, _you_ have to pay more attention to your surroundings than that stupid little maga--"

"Speaking of which, what is your type of guy?"

Ichigo froze. "Huh?" he finally spat out at last.

"I _said_, what is you type of--"

"I heard that part! What do you mean by that?! I am not gay!"

Rukia stood still, stupefied.

"Oh don't tell me that you don't know what the meaning of gay is," Ichigo slapped his forehead.

Still stupefied.

Ichigo sighed. "I am not gay. Meaning that I am straight," he explained very slowly to the stupefied Rukia. Did it work?

Nope. She's still stupefied.

"God! What the hell is _wrong_ with your brain! It means that I don't like guys! I like girls!" he yelled out of frustration.

"You mean... _little girls_?" Rukia gasped. "You pedophi--"

"NO! I don't like _little_ girls, I like _big_ girls. Do you get it?!" he made a gesture of 'big' with his arms.

"Ooh..."

"Thanks goodness you get it. For a second there I thought you wouldn't--"

"What's your type of girl, then?"

Ichigo accidentally choked on his own saliva.

"Oi, Ichigo. You okay?" Rukia asked as Ichigo doubled over and coughed.

"Yeah... I'm fine..." Ichigo replied after fits of coughing.

"So...?"

"I don't want to answer that," he turned away and continued his journey to school.

"Oh come on! Pleaaasseee...?" she followed him.

"Why would you want to know, anyway?"

"Because..." she paused awhile to think. "I don't know, really. I just have nothing better to do."

"Then why don't you read that magazine you're holding?"

"Good point," she flipped the magazine open and almost got run over by a truck.

"Hey! Watch it!" the truck driver shouted.

Ichigo ripped the magazine off Rukia's hands and tore it into shreds.

"Hey! I was reading that!" Rukia complained.

"Well too bad, then," Ichigo walked off.

"If you would _just _answer my question, none of this would've happen, you know?"

"What does I--never mind. I'll answer your stupid question _if_ you promise to watch where the hell you're going. Deal?"

Rukia nodded. "Deal."

"I like..." Ichigo paused to make something up. "A girl... who strifes for... um... perfection! Yeah, that's it! Perfection. A perfect girl. Happy now?"

Rukia nodded again. "So... you like me, then?"

"WHAT?! What makes you think _that_?!"

"Because... you always calls me a _perfectionist_," she spat the last word disgustingly.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you're perfect. You just _likes_ to make thing perfect, but you're not _perfect_," he rolled his eyes.

"What did you say?! _I_ can't be perfect?! Oh, it's on. I'll show _you_ that I _can_ be perfect!" she kicked Ichigo hard on the shin and walked away. Ichigo grimaced and hold his throbbing shin dearly.

_'Well, as long as she watches her surroundings.'_

**_SCREECH!_**

"WATCH OUT!"

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Rukia tried to calm down her pumping heart from this morning - almost - incident. It's a good thing that Ichigo warned her at the brink of the time. _Again_. She calmly put on a white apron and prepared for her Home Economic class with the girls while the guys are having Woodwork or something like that.

"Yo!" Tatsuki greeted.

"Ohayou, Kuchiki-san!" Orihime smiled warmly. Rukia greeted them back.

"Okay class, settle down," Ochi-sensei calmed down the class. "Today, we're going to make..." she paused for dramatic effect. "Chocolate chip cookies!"

"WOOOH!" the whole class - except Rukia - cheered.

_'What's chocolate chip?'_ she thought.

"Here are the recipes," Ochi-sensei gave out a small papers containing the ingredients and instructions to everyone, her black hair trailing softly behind her. She jogged back to the teacher's desk and took out a whistle. Everyone else - excpets Rukia, again - narrowed their eyes and had their hands ready on a whisk or a bowl.

"Get ready, get set, GO!" Ochi-sensei blowed the whistle.

Rukia was bewildered at her friends. It seemed as if they're having... a battle? Even the usually kind Orihime almost elbowed her way to get a sack of flour.

_'Whatever this is, I refuse to lose!'_ she thought before joining into the 'battlefield'. Ochi-sensei leaned back on her chair and settled her feet on the table, pleased with her way of teaching.

**25 minutes later...**

"It's been 15 minutes! Gotta take them out! Gotta take them out! Gotta--OUCH!" Tatsuki accidentally burned her fingers when she tried to take her batch of chocolate-chip cookies out of the blazing oven. She succeeded, but her fingers is burning hot. "Itta! Itta! Itta--!" she quickly ran to the nearest sink and flipped the tap open. She sighed in relieve as cold water poured over her burned fingers.

"Tatsuki-chan! Are you okay?!" Orihime quickly ran over to her best friend's side after she took out her batch of cookies.

"I'm fine, Orihime," Tatsuki grinned goofily.

"Oh crap! My cookies!" Rukia, forgetting her sweet demeanor, accidentally screamed because she forgot to take out _her_ batch of cookies.

The results: a _slightly_ burned cookies.

But, since she has to prove her point to a certain citrus-head, that was _definitely_ not good. She glared at her cookies, silently threatening them to go and unburn themselves.

It didn't work.

She groggily put her cookies into a small brown paper bag and walked over to Tatsuki and Orihime whom is now chatting animatedly.

"So yeah, the peetan went--oh, hi, Kuchiki-san! What's with the long face?" Orihime inquired.

Rukia held her paper bag up to somehow show her slightly burned cookies. Orihime and Tatsuki aahh-ed.

"Sorry about your cookies, Kuchiki-san," Tatsuki said with a sorry smile. Rukia sighed.

"I'll go on ahead to class. Oh, and get well, Arisawa-san," Rukia said before she leaved the Home Economic classroom.

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Rukia walked down the hallway scowling, obviously unhappy with the result of her 'battle'.

_'Oh yeah! Chappy the Rabbit show is on today! Yay!'_

That thought brought a smile to her face and she started power-walkingbut halted immediately as she felt a strange reiatsu coming from the school gate. She immediately rushed to the window and eyed the gate cautiously, her gaze shifted from left to right, right to left but found nothing. The reiatsu had left as soon as it got her attention. She furrowed her brows and slowly turned away from the window, continuing her power-walk to her classroom.

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"I saw her, my lord," a guy with a creepy grin said into a small black box.

"Kuchiki Rukia, right?" a bzz was heard from the box. "I got it. I'll send project one immediately."

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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I don't own BLEACH, won't own BLEACH and will never own BLEACH!!

sob...sob...

**A/N**: Sorry I didn't write any disclaimer last time. First time ever publishing a fanfic. Actually, it's my first time publishing anything so, sorry... :(

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**Perfection**

4th period...

"Pop quiz!!" Ochi-sensei's voice echoed throughout the classroom. _'Heh. Too quiet...5...4...3...2...1...'_

"_WHAT??_" panic swarmed the class. Except for Sado (That guy barely flinched), Ishida (Of course he prepared), Orihime (She's on the top 3. Why would it matter?), Ichigo (His rank is 23rd and he couldn't care less about a stupid pop quiz) and Rukia (She stared blankly at the teacher).

"Ichigo, what's a pop quiz?" Rukia asked, eyes gleaming with curiosity. It is her first pop quiz.

"It's a quiz, that pop," Ichigo replied, not bothering to look at her.

"Ooh..." Rukia muttered, putting her index finger on her chin and tilted her head upwards. The thought of the strange reiatsu invaded her mind yet again, but Ochi-sensei's voice snapped the said thought.

"Settle down class!" Ochi-sensei said. "Now, take out your pencil and eraser," The student did as she said and fidgeted with their finger, waiting with their paper that will determine their so-called-destiny.

The students got their exam paper and started working on it immediately. About 30 minutes later, Ochi-sensei collected all of the quizzes and started grading them. While she was doing that, she gave her students some free time.

_**Whack!**_

"What the he--" Ichigo said, turning his upper body 180 degrees just to see a certain dark-haired shinigami fuming, a huge dictionary on her hand. As expected, she was giving him her death glare, which dropped the temperature around her by 10 degrees Celsius. "You said the test will pop!"

"And I thought that you were smart enough to know that it wouldn't," Ichigo said with his usual scowl. "Oh wait, I _didn't_," he continued, grinning from ear to ear like a maniac.

"Dammit you idiot!" Rukia yelled furiously, whacking his head with her beloved dictionary.

"Gah! Stop it midget!" Ichigo yelled back, blocking any possible fatal injury the petite shinigami might inflict.

"Why should I? I'm just waiting for my quiz to _'pop' _in front of me!" Rukia yelled even louder, catching everyone's attention in the class excluding Ochi-sensei, who was busy grading.

"Oi, midget!" Ichigo whispered this time, still blocking the hits. "You _do_ know that everyone is staring at us, right?" he whispered even louder.

"Oh..." Her hitting came to a stop and she started looking around. "Ara...minna...this isn't what it looks like..." she continued while laughing awkwardly.

"You mean, it _doesn't_ look like _you're_ hitting me like a _barbaric gorilla_ with a _stone club_?"

Rukia laughed awkwardly, "Ahahahahaha...Kurosaki-san," she said gripping his left shoulder, "What _ever_ are you _talking_ about?" she gripped his shoulder even tighter.

"Fine, fine," Ichigo mumbled, pushing her hand off his left shoulder. "There's nothing to see here..._minna_..." he continued, mimicking Rukia's fake schoolgirl's accent at the word 'minna'. He glared at his partner in crime who gladly glared back.

"I'm done everyone! Now, gather around my desk to wait for me to call your name!" Ochi-sensei commanded her students. The students started rushing crazily to her desk after that.

_'I owe a big one to Ochi-sensei.'_ Ichigo thought, feeling relieved that all attention wasn't on him anymore.

"Kurosaki!" Ochi-sensei called. Ichigo walked over to her desk to get his test back and calmly walked back to his seat. He opened the test which was neatly folded into half and a smirked found its way to his face as he saw his score.

"Ichigo! What did you get" Keigo said in a singing tune and grabbed the carrot-top's shoulder from the back as he peek at his test. It says...

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Name: Kurosaki Ichigo

Score:89

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"Strawberry! How could you betray us!" Keigo yelled over dramatically, turning Ichigo's head 110 degrees to the left. A crack was heard.

Correction. _Two_ crack was heard.

"Ouch! Don't b reak my skull Ichigo! No!" Keigo yelled as he ran in random directions. Ichigo didn't bother to go after him so he just sigh as he went back to his seat and sat there with nothing to do but wait. He glanced to his right side and found the raven-haired shinigami sighing heavily as she stares into her test. Ichigo got up and put both his hands to the upper corners of the back of Rukia's chair quietly. He took a peek at her test and it says...

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Name: Kuchiki Rukia

Score: 65

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Ichigo snickered. _The_ Kuchiki Rukia was actually _depressed_ because of her test score? Everyone knows that Japanese isn't her best subject but does she have to act this _melancholy_?

Rukia noticed a snicker coming from behind her. She tilted her head upwards enough to see a certain snickering orange-head teen staring right into her test. She pushed her test into her bag immediately and knocked off his right hand on the corner of her chair, causing him to lose his balance (he was depending on his arms _way_ too much) and hit his chin on her head.

"Ouch! What did you do that for?" Rukia yelled, rubbing the sore part of her head.

"_You're_ the one that knocked my hand off the chair!" Ichigo yelled back.

"But _you're_ the one that put your hands on _my_ chair!"

"It's not _you're_ chair, it's the _school's_!"

"_So?_ _I'm_ sitting in it and as far as _I'm_ concerned, this is _my_ chair!"

"Who cares about _your_ concerns?"

"_Everyone does!_ Well, everyone who is _sane_ that is, _ne, minna?_" Rukia flashed her goddess smile to the rushing crowd. Apparently, the said crowd haven't got their test back. The crowd stopped and said, "Yes, Kuchiki-san!" in unison, then went back to their rushing.

"_See?_ They stopped their rushing for _me_." Rukia said, grinning with victory.

"Whatever, midget," Ichigo sat back on his chair and started to doze off. Rukia, who was giving him a death glare, slowly look the other way, sighing sadly as she stare at her bag which contain a certain paper of so-called-destiny. A sound from her cellphone broke her train of thoughts.

_**Beep...Beep...Beep...BEEP!**_

"Ichigo, hollow!" Rukia said, suddenly stood up from her chair.

"Yeah, yeah..." Ichigo mumbled, taking his shinigami representative badge and pushed it into himself as Rukia ate a soul candy.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked as she jumped through one of the classroom window.

"Yeah?" Ichigo followed the dark-haired shinigami and jumped through the same window.

"Why don't you use Kon?"

They both landed safely on the ground. "Because I don't know where the hell he is!" They started running towards the direction of the hollow.

"But you know, you should take care of your body."

"Why?"

"Because people will thought that you're dead in there."

Ichigo swore as a sudden realization hit him.

"Don't worry, I already ordered Chappy to take care of it."

"Damn! Her _again_??"

"Ichigo! Don't talk like that about Chappy! She's a good soul candy! And besides--"

An inhuman scream interrupted her. They both started running even faster. They arrived in record time just to look at an ugly hollow with a pig-faced mask and big limbs with spikes sticking out of both its elbows. Its skin is the color of vermilion with a grey stripe running down the middle of its back.

"Heh. Guess today is my lucky day. To be able to eat two shinigamis that is!" the said hollow shrieked.

"Don't push your luck, pig-face!" Ichigo said, gripping Zangetsu as it unwrapped itself from its bandage. He jumped up and sliced the hollow's arm completely. Blood spurted everywhere.

The hollow screamed, holding the right side of his shoulder, where its arm were supposed to be.

"Che. Too easy," Ichigo mumbled.

"Heh," The hollow smirked. "Do you _really_ think that I would go down that easily?"

Rukia's head jerked up as she sensed a strange reiatsu flowing from the hollow. _'What is this strange reiatsu?'_ she thought. It was similar, in a way to the strange reiatsu she had sensed before, but it was also different. It's... _weaker_.

"Yeah," Ichigo said as he sliced the hollow in half. He put Zangetsu on his back as the hollow evaporated into thin air. "Oi! Rukia! Let's go back to school before that stupid soul candy of yours breaks all the bones in my body!" Ichigo yelled as he jerked his head slightly to the direction of the school.

Rukia broke away from her trance and quickly said, "Y-Yes!". She passed Ichigo and started running back towards the school even faster. But she stopped when she felt a jerking on her wrist. She looked back and realize it was Ichigo.

"You OK?" he asked.

"Y-Yeah! I'm fine! I was just thinking for a bit, nothing much," Rukia pulled her hand out of Ichigo's grip. "Let's just go."

"If you said so." Ichigo shrugged.

They made their way back to their class and luckily, no one thought Ichigo was dead.

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**A/N**: Finally! It took me ages writing this. I'm very sorry if there's some -or lots of- grammar mistake in this chapter. I'm not very good with my grammar as I just started learning how to make proper sentences 2 years ago...(Bang own head on the desk) Anyway, reviews are welcome and so is critiques :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own BLEACH. And if I do, BLEACH will be ruined.

**A/N:** Once again, I'm very sorry for any spelling mistakes.

Thank you for reviewing, **Lady Skorpio**. It was very much appreciated :)

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**Perfection**

_Chapter 3_

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Lunch time, a time where the students of Karakura High take a long break from their melancholic classes and just relax. Some of them hang out at the cafeteria, some of them hangout at the garden and a certain some of them hangout at the roof top.

"Ichigo, what is this?" Rukia asked, holding a juice box in front of Ichigo's face.

"..." the orange-haired teen responded with a blank expression on his face. "It's a juice box."

" I know that. What I meant is, what flavor is it?"

"Strawberry."

"How could it be?!"

"What the hell are you rambling about?"

"It's _your_ flavor?"

"What?!"

"You said it's strawberry flavored. Strawberry equals Ichigo. Ichigo equals You." Rukia explained a-matter-of-factly.

Ichigo slapped himself on the head. _'Can she be any stupider than _this_?'_ he thought, putting down his hand, which was on his forehead a moment ago, to his knee.

"Well?" Rukia asked once more.

"Well _what_?" Ichigo answered, a glint of annoyance in his voice.

"_Why_ didn't you tell me you have a flavor named after you?"

"I _don't_!"

"Then why-"

"Argh! Shut up, will ya?!"

"Fine, then!" Rukia said, picking up the straw and poking it in the straw hole. Well, at least, she was _trying_ to. What she was actually doing was poking it in random directions. "Dammit! Why does this have to be so damn _hard_?" she yelled, poking it even harder. Fortunately for her, Ichigo was the only one whose there, so she doesn't have to use her sweet and innocent demeanor. Keigo and Mizuiro went to flirt with older girls, Chad is buying his lunch, Ishida mysteriously disappeared and Orihime, Tatsuki and the group of girls decided to eat at the garden.

Ichigo sighed, running a hand through his bright orange hair. "You never learned do you?"

He complained while Rukia was just sitting there,gritting her teeth in anger and frustation, still randomly poking her straw.

Ichigo went behind her and crouched down, peeking from the right side of her head. A blush rise up to his cheek as he stopped her desperate attempt to poke the straw hole and put both his hands on each of hers. He led her hand (which hold the worn-out looking straw) to the straw hole and poke it successfully.

A smile lighted up to Rukia's face. "Thanks, Ichigo!" she said, tilting her head to her upper right, also turning her head so she can see the taller teen better.

Realizing how close they are, Ichigo let go of her hands and slide 10 feet back, the back of his right hand covering his blushing face.

_'Hm... his face sure is red. Maybe he has a fever,'_ Rukia thought, drinking her juice while looking at the blushing teen. She stopped drinking from her juice box, put the said juice box down and started walking towards him.

_'What the hell is she doing? Why is she approaching me? Why her? Why ME?'_ the carrot-top thought, blushing more than ever. _'Wait a minute! Why the hell am I thinking about thi-'_ his train of thoughts was disrupted by the purple-eyed-shinigami-in-a-gigai in front of him.

"Oi, Ichigo," the said shinigami-in-a-gigai went down to her knees, right in front of him. Her face went closer, until there's only about 6 inches between their noses. "Do you have a fever?" she continued, putting her hand on her forehead and the other one on his. "'Cuz you sure look like a beetroot to me."

Ichigo seriously feels like fainting right now. But he quickly denied that thought, thinking, _'Kurosaki Ichigo does not faint because of a mere pint sized midget!'. _He pushed the said – or rather, thought- pint sized midget gently and stood up. Shaking his blush off his face, he put on his usual scowl and said, "No, I don't, midget," coldly.

A vein popped out on Rukia's head as she clenched her hand to a fist and then using the exact same fist to bruise Ichigo's right arm. "NEVER! Call me a midget!" she yelled furiously.

"Fine, fine...shorty," he replied, rubbing the sore bruise on his arm.

"What's your problem?!"

"It's none of your business!"

"What the _hell_ do you _mean_ by that?!"

"You _heard_ me well! It's! None! Of! Your! Freakin'! Business!"

"You're such a hard headed imbecile! Ugh!" she exploded, throwing her juice box (which she managed to pick up before hand) right at his scowling face. It managed to blow the juice inside successfully all over his face which displayed a look of disbelief. The shinigami-in-a-gigai stormed off, stomping her foot as she does so. She slammed the door behind her as she ran downstairs.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Strawberry..." a voice called to him.

"She'll never feel the same way as you do if you treated her that way, you know..." a second voice called to him, speaking in as-the-matter-of-fact tone.

"Keigo! Mizuiro! What the hell are you doing here?" Ichigo asked, avoiding their gazes that fell upon him while wiping the strawberry juice off his face. "I thought you went to flirt with older women. And what the hell do you mean by she won't feel the same way as I-" he was cut off by his black-haired friend.

"We did," Mizuiro said.

"He got ALL the girls..." Keigo sighed, jerking his thumb at his always-popular-with-older-women friend. "Anyway, WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR??"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, clueless expression written all over his face.

"Kuchiki-san sure looked pissed when she stormed off. Don't you think?"

"That's _her_ problem..." Ichigo muttered.

"Say what you wanted to say but I'm just saying you should apologize to her..."

"Che! I'm not doing that ever!"

"Fine. I was just saying... Let's go anyway, gym is starting soon..."

* * *

Rukia ran down to her locker to vent her anger, before she turned her head quickly as the mysterious reiatsu appeared again. She looked around as the reiatsu dissippated yet again. _'What the hell is going on?'_

"Kuchiki-san!!" Orihime called from the end of the hall.

"Y-Yes?"

"Let's go change! Gym is starting in 10 minutes!"

"I'll be right there!" Rukia quickly glanced around to make sure that the reiatsu have completely dissippated and ran towards the orange-haired girl.

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**A/N:** Fuh...finally...it took me ages to type this down. I've had the whole idea in my trusty notebook, just haven't got the time to type it down yet. And it will probably be on hiatus for at least 5 days, since I'm going to an art camp. Sorry!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** heya everyone!! Sorry I was late to update (Hey, that rhymes!). I just got back from my art camp. Don't tell anyone, but I went there with my chicken pox XD!! No one noticed it. That'll show my dad!! (He was rambling about 'someone will bound to notice that you have chicken pox!') Yes, so anyway...

Thank you for the review **disinterested, angelic93 **and **auburn-haired-sadist-XD**! And also, thank you for everyone that have put my story into their list of story alerts! It was very much appreciated XD. Yeah, sorry if anyone was out of character in this story... And sorry if my story don't have much of romance in it... I even changed the genre! There will be some, but not **that** much... Sorry! :(

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Four_

They are having Physical Education now. All of them are gathering on the school yard, doing some jogging or some random warming up.

"Achoo!" Rukia sneezed, covering her mouth and nose with her hand.

"Bless you," Orihime and Tatsuki said in unison.

"Thanks," Rukia replied, giving them a small smile. "So cold..." she continued, wrapping both her arms around her shoulders.

"I can see why you're cold." Tatsuki said. "Why in the world are we out here when it's only +1??" she continued, huffing at her cold hands, trying to make them warm. They were all wearing their P.E. outfit, which is a white T-shirt with bluish-gray sleeves and a pair of bluish-gray training pants.

"Okay, Arisawa! You're up!" Ochi-sensei called, pointing at a pile of wooden blocks beside her.

"Hai! Wish me luck, guys." Tatsuki grinned at the burnt-orange and black haired girls behind her.

"Good luck!" the girls said in unison, jerking their thumbs up.

There's 11 blocks of wood piled up in front of Tatsuki. Ochi-sensei said this was a 'test' to 'prove' their so-called-willpower. Some students think of it as an actual test while others don't.

Tatsuki took 3 steps back. She inhaled, then exhaled. She put on a serious look, then started running towards the pile of wooden blocks. She put her hands on them before jumping over them and she landed gracefully on her feet. She sighed deeply before saying, "Uh...Ta-da?".

"As expected of a member of the karate club!" a random guy said.

"Ooh...! I knew she could do it!" his friend said and they started clapping. Soon enough, a swarm of claps filled the yard as Tatsuki sat down on her place. "Good job, Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime said with a smile.

"Kuchiki! You're up!" Ochi-sensei called.

"Hai!" Rukia stood up, sighing as she jogged her way to the wooden blocks. _'Here goes nothing...' _she thought. She observed the blocks for several seconds before hesitantly ran towards it.

_'I can do this.' _she thought as she run, _'This is nothing compare to the shinigami training back in the academy!'_

She placed her hands on the top box before jumping swiftly. And just when she thought it was going well, her left hand slipped, making her unbalanced before the landing. But luckily, her reflexes helped her a lot. She turned her right hand along with her petite body, then gave the block a push, making her land gracefully on the ground. She winced when she landed and took a quick glance at her left hand. It was swelling badly.

The whole class stared in awe with their mouths ajar. That is except, of course, Ichigo. He knew damn well how her reflexes got the better of her at times. _'Heh. Guess I just figured out how she kicks me on the shin so fast at times.' _he thought.

Realization hit the petite shinigami the moment she landed on the ground. "Uh...Ta...Da?" she said, anxiously putting her left hand behind her back. Then, the whole class went clapping. "Kuchiki-san! I am so proud of youuuuu...!" Keigo yelled, jumping to hug her in the process. That is, before Ichigo grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back into his place. He looked at her left hand (which was dangling on her side because she was just about to stop Keigo from hugging her) and noticed that it was swelling up.

"Oi! Ru- I mean, Kuchiki! Is your left hand okay?" he asked, pushing Keigo who was struggling to break free.

"Y-yeah! I think it's okay..." Rukia said, trying her best not to flinch from the fact that she just sprained her left hand and it hurt like crazy.

"Yeah, right! You sprained your hand and you know it." he said as he walked towards her. "Sensei! Can I take her to the nurse! She seems to have hurt her hand!" he asked rather loudly, grabbing Rukia's right hand with his left to make sure she didn't run away.

"Uh..Y-Yes! You can! You are both excused!" Ochi-sensei said while writing something on her student book. "Okay! Next! Asano!" she called again.

"NO!!" Keigo screamed with rivers of milky tears streaming down his eyes.

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Somewhere on the second floor of Karakura High...

"Oi Ichigo! Let me go! I can walk without your help already!" Rukia yelled, trying to break her hand free from Ichigo's grip.

"No can do!" Ichigo yelled back, "You'll run away if I do so!"

"Pfft! No, I won't!" she said, averting her eyes from his.

"I don't believe you."

"What?! Why not?!"

"'Cuz I know you can't say the same thing while looking into my eyes directly!"

"Yes I can!" she turned her head and looked directly into his chocolate-brown eyes, "I _won't _run away." she said with a smirk.

"Che, good then!" he said, while he still hadn't let her right hand go, as he turned away and started walking towards the nurse's office again.

"I did it! Now let! My! Hand! Go!!" she yelled through her gritted teeth.

"NO!!" he turned to face her and yelled furiously.

"You're hurting me Ichigo..." she lowered her voice, averting her eyes from his again.

"I thought your _left _hand were the sprained one?"

"Well, _maybe _if you haven't gripped my right hand so tight, it wouldn't have _hurt _now, _would it?!_"

"Okay! Okay! Fine!" he yelled, letting her right hand go. Giving the chance, Rukia pulled her hand away and started running in the opposite direction. "_BOHAHAHAHAHA!_" she laughed (Kanonji style) as she ran.

"Dammit!" he yelled, running to catch up with the raven-haired shinigami.

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Meanwhile, on the school yard...

"I wonder what they're talking about in there..." Keigo said, putting his chin on both his hands.

"Probably some normal stuff." Mizuiro replied.

"BUT YELLING LOUD ENOUGH FOR US TO HEAR OVER HERE is _not _normal!" he shouted, waving his hands up and down in frustation.

"Can I help you, Asano?" Ochi-sensei asked.

"WOAH!" he screamed as he slid back ten feet in fear.

"Nice reaction." Mizuiro said clamly as he watched his brown-haired friend quivering in fear.

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Meanwhile, somewhere in the second floor of Karakura High...

"Oi midget! You can't run away from me forever!" Ichigo yelled as he tried to catch up with Rukia.

"Yeah? Well, watch me!" she shouted back and started running away even faster.

"Rukia! Why the hell are you running away?!"

"_None of your business!_" she mimicked him. She went up to the third floor with, of course, Ichigo chasing her. "Yes it is! _You _live in _my_ closet so _you're_ one of the residents in _my_ room! And since _you're_ living in _my_ room, _I _have every right to know so!" Ichigo yelled.

"But you can't force it out of me!" Rukia yelled back.

"Yes I can!" he yelled and started running full speed.

Rukia gasped and also started running full speed. Even though she was few meters ahead of him, his legs were longer than hers, therefore, he had longer steps than she did. She was well aware of this and she also knew that he'll catch up to her in no time at all, now that he was running full speed. Knowing this, she called out, "Kon! Help me!". And out of nowhere, Kon jumped up to Ichigo's face and started covering his eyes.

"Run, nee-san! Run for your life!" Kon shouted, trying his best to keep himself on Ichigo's face.

"Thanks, Kon!" Rukia said with a smile, still running away.

"Gah! Kon! Get off dammit!" Ichigo yelled, grabbing Kon's tail and pulling it as hard as he could. Fortunately for him, Kon did not have real claws that could hold on to him forever. In on swift movement, he pulled him off and throw the poor Kon aside and started chasing Rukia again.

"Nee-san! Gomenasai...!" Kon said dramatically, milky tears flowing out of his eyes.

"Damn it! He's back!" Rukia mumbled to herself as she ran up the stairs to the roof top.

"Tch. She ran as fast as ever." Ichigo muttered to himself. He ran up the stairs, skipping on stairs as he always does. He slammed the door to the roof top open and slowed down. "You can't run away anymore, Rukia..." he said as he saw the raven-haired shinigami-in-a-gigai sitting near the railings, hugging her knees with her back turned at him. His eyes softened as he started approaching her very slowly. He took a peek at her face, sunlight shining on it.

_'Now that I think about it, she _is_ quite beautifu- whoa!' _he thought, _'No, no, no, no, NO! What the hell am I thinking?! ' _he shook that thought from of his head. He turned his head once more to look at her and he unconsciously observed her facial features. Her raven-black locks were swaying slightly because of the wind, her big, royal purple eyes were both closed and her small lips was slightly agape.

Ichigo smiled at the sight and said, "Oi, Rukia... if you don't want to go to the nurse, uh... we can just go home...uh...I'll fix the sprain for you..." while turning his head away, blushing.

"..."

No response.

"..."

Still no response.

"..."

"Okay. Look, I'm sor-..." he sighed, though he couldn't finished his apology. He inhaled some air and decided to try again. "I'm sor...ry, okay? Now will you just please answer me or something?" he begged. _ 'Wait a minute!' _he snapped, _'Kurosaki Ichigo does not beg!' _he thought after a sudden realization hit him.

"..."

No response.

"Oi! Rukia! Answer me!"

"..."

"Rukia!" he yelled, poking her arm.

"..."

"Oi!" he yelled as he did one big 'poke' on her arm.

Response: **THUMP!**

Apparently, Rukia has fallen to her side because of Ichigo's 'poke'.

"Rukia!"

"...", the said shinigami didn't even flinched when she hit the ground. Heck, she barely even breathed!

"!!" a sudden realization hit him (again) and he started shaking the petite shinigami that just fell to her side.

Response: No reaction whatsoever.

"Dammit!" he said as he take his shinigami representative badge and get his own soul out of his body. "Che. And she told me to take care of my body." he muttered, running after her in his shinigami form.

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**A/N:**I hope you enjoyed my story! Reviews and critiques are welcome and i would like to make a shot out to my editor. Thanks for checking my spelling and grammar mistake! TGOEWARPP FOREVER!! WOOH! XD


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Heya everyone!! Sorry if I was late. My dad changed my computer so I kinda have to wait and yeah...

Thanks to **LET'S BLEACH IT**, **auburn-haired-sadist-XD**, and **none **for reviewing!! It was again, very much appreciated!! XD

Enjoy!!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter 5  
_

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Ichigo ran off, following Rukia's trace of reiatsu._ 'Damn it. She's good at running away, isn't she? A little too good.' _he thought. He stopped when he realized that Rukia's reiatsu spiked up. He ran, using his senses as the direction. He ran _left, right, right _then _left, _or was it _right_? Whichever it was, he didn't care, he just wanted to get to Rukia at any cost. Getting the feeling that he might never reach her in his current speed, he started shunpo-ing and stopped when he saw the raven-haired shinigami in front of him. He quickly took notice of his surroundings and noticed that he was near a lake at the park near the border of Karakura Town.

Even though her back was turned at him, he could still hear her panting for breath. The wind blew her dark locks softly, making it sway in a very graceful movement.

"Oi! Rukia! Are you okay?" Ichigo asked, putting his right hand at her left shoulder and turned her to face him. His eyes widened in surprise. She was all bloody and there was a big gash on her stomach, accompanied by cuts and bruises all over her arms.

"W-What...are y-you...doing...here?" she said between gasps as she cling to her zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki. It was in its shikai state, but, unlike the usual, the pure whiteness had turned half crimson red. The crimson red liquid was dripping from the tip of the blade to the green grass below.

"What happened?" Ichigo yelled, grabbing her other shoulder with his free arm. "Who-What...did this to you?"

"Ara...ara...seems like someone is a little late..."

"Wha-" Ichigo turned. There stood the exact same hollow he pummeled two hours ago. But this time, it was smaller in size.

"Nice to see you again," it smirked, "I'm not so easy to get rid of, much to your dismay." Its smirk slowly changed into a maniacal grin.

"'The hell? Well then, I just have to cut, cut and CUT SOME MORE!" Ichigo yelled, swinging Zangetsu, trying to kill it. It dodged and was about to give the fatal blow while Ichigo blocked it with his kitchen knife-like zanpakuto. He managed to shunpo-ed to the hollow's back and slash it completely into half. Once again, the hollow evaporated into thin air.

"Che. What's the difference between now and then?" Ichigo mumbled, swinging the back of Zangetsu to his shoulder. Rukia was standing by, watching, as she started to heal herself with kido. She realized what was happening and ran to Ichigo before it was too late. "Ichigo!" she shouted as she knocked him to the side with her shoulder. She knocked him away as hard as she could, considering her wounds haven't completely healed yet. She winced as the gash reopened itself again.

"Rukia! What are you-" Ichigo was cut off as he landed on the hard ground along with Rukia.

_**BOOM!**_A blast of reiatsu exploded right in front of Ichigo's face. Had Rukia not knocked him out of the way, he would've exploded along with the reiatsu.

"Aw... I missed..." the vermilion colored hollow cooed as it smirked.

"Wha-" the shinigami representative stare up at the hollow while Rukia was trying to get herself off of Ichigo. She stood up, leaning on her zanpakuto, which had apparently been stabbed into the ground. Her other hand clutching the piece of black kimono that's covering her gash. "Rukia..." he continued.

"Ichigo, it can regenerate."

"_What_?!"

"Remember last time we were fighting it? Just before you _'killed' _it?" Ichigo nodded in response. "I felt a strange reiatsu spiking up. I figured that was the time it regenerated itself before getting slashed by you." she explained, pulling Sode no Shirayuki out of the ground and pointed it at the hollow. "The catch is, it can regenerate itself anytime it wants and how many times it want to ..."

"Ding!" the hollow shrieked, "You just won yourself a prize, little Missy. To be eaten by me, it is!" it leaped up.

"Tsugi no Mai..." Rukia moved to her stance with particles of white snow fluttering around her. "Hakuren!" she shouted, turning the small particles to large storm of ice which were going right at it. It froze and shattered it to little pieces. "Get up, Ichigo! It's not over yet!" she commanded.

Ichigo stood up and moved to his offensive stance, opening all of his senses, making them as sensitive as possible.

"Yaagh!" he let out a yell of battle as he turned and slashed the new-born hollow in half. And he did that again. And again.

The hollow seemed to be more interested on Ichigo than Rukia, considering Ichigo's reiatsu was oozing out all the time. "Rukia! Heal yourself while I stall this pig-faced bastard!" he yelled.

"Uh...Sure," Rukia replied as the soft green light started healing her gash once more. She sat down as she waited for her kido to heal her completely, but she was still cautious about her situation.

She observed the hollow closely and thoroughly, until she realized that the hollow isn't twice Ichigo's height anymore. It was barely taller than him now.

After about five minutes of waiting -and healing-, her gash had almost completely healed. As for the cuts and bruises, they healed just a minute ago when she had enlarged the range for her kido spell. She put more reiatsu into her kido and focused on healing her gash. It healed in no time at all. She then stood up, grabbed her zanpakuto and moved to her offensive stance.

"Tsugi no Mai! Hakuren!"

The layers of ice covered the vermilion colored hollow, freezing him for a moment. "Listen, Ichigo..." Rukia said, "I did tell you that he can regenerate. I've fought him 25 times to know that. But now that I've observed it completely, it struck me that it is getting smaller every time he dies!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at this statement. He didn't realize that pig-face was shrinking all the time. Well, maybe that's because he was too busy being alert and fighting the exact same bastard all the time, again and again and again! The ice that have been wrapping the said bastard the whole time shattered.

"Well, that explains that, but how do we-" Ichigo asked, but was cut off by the all too familiar inhuman scream coming from behind him.

"Shi-" he turned, grabbing Zangetsu in attempt to block the hollow's attack. But he was too late. The hollow slashed his back with the edge of its spiky elbow. He dropped down to his knees, stabbing Zangetsu into the ground in the process.

"Ichigo!" Rukia ran to his side.

"Rukia, stay back! It's just a shallow gash!"

"No, I will not and no, it isn't! Now shut up and let me heal you!" the same soft green light she had used to heal herself glowed once more.

"Rukia..."

"You're not underestimating me are you, little Missy? I hope you're not...'Cuz I have more from where's that coming from!" the hollow prepared to shoot another ball of reiatsu at her.

"Mask of flesh and blood. All creation fluttering wings, he who is crowned in the name of human beings. Carriage of thunder. Gap of spinning wheel. Together with light, divided into six. On the wall of blue flame, etch a twin lotus. In the abyss of great fire, scorching sun awaits. Bakudou #61-" Rukia chanted, "Rikujoukourou!" she summons thin, but wide beams that slammed into the hollow's midsection, holding it in place.

"Wha-" the hollow accidentally let go of the reiatsu it gathered for its attack.

"Hadou #63..." she positioned her hands, palms facing the hollow. "Souren Soukatsui!"

A huge blast of blue reiatsu was charged towards the hollow. It made a big_**BOOM!**_Noise as it hit it and completely destroyed it.

"Huff...huff..." Rukia breathed steadily as she went back to healing Ichigo's deep gash.

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Ichigo's gash had completely healed. It was deep, but it wasn't as deep as Rukia's, so it took shorter time for her to tend it.

"Thanks, Rukia." Ichigo stood up, pulling Zangetsu out of the ground as he did.

"You know you don't need to thank me." Rukia smirked.

"Whatever. Where is he now?"

"Well..." Rukia put her hand on the edge of her chin, "I also noticed that he needed a lot of reiatsu to regenerate. He had regenerate for about fifty times now, so I'm guessing that he died already or he's in his final state."

_**BOOM!**_

"Argh..._not again_." Ichigo turned, facing the now-is-half-as-tall-as-gillian hollow. This time, the hollow's eyes were crimson red (and it was GLOWING!! Well, it _did_ glow before, but _this time_ it glowed like a light bulb!!). This time, also, it didn't talk. It stood there, staring at the two shinigamis below it. The said shinigamis had a surprised look on their faces. Standing before them, is the fiercer looking hollow, staring right at them. It opened its mouth slowly ,gathered some random reiatsu and focusing it on the center of its mouth.

"Cero!" Ichigo declared, a look of determination written all over his face.

"But...how?" Rukia snapped from her trance and moved back to her stance, readying her zanpakuto.

"Che. Just when I thought the bastard is dead." Ichigo gripped Zangetsu with both his hands and went back to his stance.

The hollow shot its cero at the two shinigamis. Rukia moved to her defensive stance, preparing to defend herself if she have to, but Ichigo stayed in his offensive. He tightened his grip on Zangetsu and jumped towards the cero.

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted.

"Che. Don't worry about me. I did this before and I'll do it again if I have to." the carrot-top grinned cockily and glanced at the petite shinigami below him before readying Zangetsu. He positioned it in front of him, its side facing his face. His face is glowed with determination. He focused his reiatsu to his zanpakuto which had started glowing blue.

The cero and Ichigo collided, creating a mass explosion of reiatsu, bluish-white against deep red. For a moment, it looked like an equally powerful match; that is, before Ichigo's glowing zanpakuto divided the cero in half. Ichigo landed back on the ground unharmed.

The now-huge hollow moved. It was thrown aback with the pressure from the collision as the cause. It's vermilion arms swung around, destroying the tall trees that surrounded him. It let out yet another inhuman scream and shook its head wildly. Ichigo leaped up once again and swung his zanpakuto, trying to cut its right arm but to no avail. The hollow swung the said arm and smacked Ichigo on his side, sending him flying to a tree (that it _haven't_ destroyed yet) nearby.

_**BOOM!**_

"Ichigo!" Rukia ran up to Ichigo, who was lying on his stomach after hitting the tree head on , hard. She crouch down beside him, putting down Sode no Shirayuki besides her. She turned him to his back, inspecting the bleeding wound the poor tree had inflict. He was shutting his eyes tightly, as if preparing for another impact.

"Ungh...Ru-Rukia?" Ichigo opened his eyes slightly, checking if he still has to bear another impact. "What happened...guh!" he sat up briskly, before wincing slightly in pain.

"Don't move, baka!" Rukia yelled, pushing him back down slowly. Her eyes softened and a concerned look swarmed her pale face.

"Oi, Rukia. You okay? You look...pale."

"Don't I always?" Rukia rolled her violet orbs.

"Paler than usual, I mean"

"Since when are _you_ so observant?"

"Eh? N-No, that's not it-"he was yet cut off by the scream let out from the hollow.

"Right. He's still here." Rukia sighed.

"He's not dead ye- tch!" Ichigo sat up again but winced when he was halfway through.

"Don't move around, damn it!" Rukia pushed him back down gently by the shoulders. "Now stay here. I'll call Inoue and the others." she put both her hands at the side of her mouth. "Kon! Can you come here for a sec?" she called. And out of nowhere, Kon _amazingly_ popped out (again).

"Yes, nee-san!" he saluted.

"Would you please call, Inoue, Ishida and Sado for me?"

"Yes! Anything for you, nee-san!" and with that, Kon went off as Rukia started pinning the struggling-to-get-up Ichigo in place until Orihime came and healed him.

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Meanwhile, at Karakura High...

Kon climbed up the wall with all his might for his precious nee-san. It's not an easy task if you're a soul that is stuck in a lion stuffed animal. Well, the lion part makes him feel better, but he would've preferred it if Urahara would've give him a gigai like how he gave Ririn and everyone else!!

Kon sighed as he reached one of the windows of Ichigo's homeroom. Then, he slammed his face on the said window, scanning for the ginger-haired girl, the Quincy and the Gentle Giant. _'A-ha! There they are!'_ Kon thought as he spotted the three paying attention to the teacher and taking notes.

He quickly shuffled carefully to the nearest window near the ginger-haired girl. He wish that the kind ginger-haired girl would notice him and invite him to her valley of the go- _'Wait! No more daydreaming Kon!' _he told himself, _'Nee-san needs you right now!' _and so, he jumped up and down -carefully, of course- to capture the attention of the bubbly girl or if he lucky, all of the three.

Orihime, Ishida and Sado snapped and jerked their heads toward the direction of the jumping stuffed animal outside the window. "Nee-san needs you..." he mouthed. Fortunately for Kon, all three of them got the message, they just needed a distraction. Unfortunately, there was none, so all they could think of was...

"Sensei!" all three of them said in unison as they stood up-also in unison.

"Y-Yes?" Ochi-sensei replied, turning away from the blackboard she was writing on.

"May I-we please be excused?" Ishida said, pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose.

"Why?" Ochi-sensei shot a curious look to the Quincy.

"Uh...well..." Orihime stuttered, playing with her warm orange locks, trying to make something up.

"We need to go to the toilet." Sado said calmly. All eyes were on him. He barely talks for heaven's sake! _'They must have to go to the bathroom really, REALLY badly.'_they all thought.

"Yeah! That's it!" Orihime snapped her fingers.

"_All three of you?_" Ochi-sensei raised an eyebrow. Orihime and Ishida stared at each other blankly. They were both goody-two-shoes! How the heck do they suppose to know how to lie?

"No. Only Ishida is going to the toilet. I will check on Ichigo while Orihime checks on Kuchiki-san." Sado managed to, once again, saves the day. Orihime and Ishida nodded furiously at his answer.

"Okay, then..." Ochi-sensei nodded approvingly. _'Woah. Sado talked _twice_ today. I wonder what's happening...'_ she thought as Orihime, Ishida, and Sado trotted out of the class. Orihime closed the door and let out a relieved sigh together with Ishida. Sado just stood there and stared at the two relieved students.

"Aren't we supposed to be running to Kuchiki-san's location now?" Sado asked. Orihime and Ishida stared blankly at him before Ishida comes up with a,

"Right! Let's go!"

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**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed the story!! It's summer here in Finland, so I'll update faster!! (I think) I have it all written until chapter... nine (?) you just have to wait for me to publish it! I'll try to be as fast as I could!! And I'm being a horrible sister to my siblings cuz I'm hogging the computer all day!! MUAHAHAHAH!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own BLEACH. And I never will...

**A/N: **Sorry it took so long... I've been thinking a lot lately for some really random reason...

Thanks to **auburn-haired-sadist-XD** and **x pink cloud x** for reviewing. It was very much appreciated :). Oh, and I know the hollow is weird, but it has to be weird in order for my story to progress and don't ask me why did Rukia used a level 60 kido to destroy the hollow in the last chapter. It just goes along...

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Six_

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"Tch. This is harder than I thought." Rukia said in her stance, gripping Sode no Shirayuki tightly. The fight has been going on for about ten minutes now, resulting with a large gashed hollow and gashed-and-head-bleeding Rukia. She gasped for air as her vision blurred. _'Damn. My vision is blurring... Don't...have...enough...reiatsu... to...heal...self...'_ she thought between her short gasps. She dropped down on one knee, stabbing her zanpakuto into the ground for support.

"Rukia!" Ichigo yelled, struggling to get up. Apparently, Rukia has binded him with kido.

_Flashback..._ (Oh no...)

"_Don't move!" Rukia yelled, trying her best to pin Ichigo down. She isn't exactly succeeding because she barely able to hold him halfway down._

"_Dammit Rukia! Let me go!" Ichigo yelled back, trying to pull Rukia's hand off of his shoulders, thus, letting him go free. Hey, even if she is a midget-I mean, petite, she still have brute strength._

"_Tch. I have no choice." she said, releasing her grip from his shoulder and started making a swift hand movement. "Bakudou no.1! Sai!" she yelled and Ichigo fell down to the ground. He struggles and struggles, but he can't even budge. "Oi! Rukia! What the hell did you do to me??" he hollered._

"_Don't tell me... you forgot _already_?" she replied, a victorious smirk on her face._

"_Wait a minute! Is this-"_

"_Uh-huh! It's the spell that i used the first time i met you. Only, I tripled the amount of reiatsu this time."_

"_Dammit..." Ichigo muttered._

"_Now you stay there and be a good boy until Inoue comes and heal you, okay?"_

"_...No."_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_I said, NO! Now release me woman! I need to blah...blah...blah..." he keeps on continuing while Rukia just stared blankly at him, trying to process one _clear_ sentence into her head. "And that's why you must release me!" Ichigo ended his explanation._

"_I didn't know you know _that_ much words."_

"_Wha-?! Well, I _do_. Now release me Midget!" Ichigo struggled once more._

_A vein popped out of Rukia's head. "Not gonna happen, _Strawberry._" she crouched down and flicked him on the forehead._

"_Oi! What was that fo-"_

"_Shut up! Now lie down there and rest would ya?!"_

"_But-"_

"_No buts!" and Rukia shunpo-ed off to fight._

_End of flashback..._ (fuh...)

"Kurosaki! Kuchiki-san!" Ishida came running towards Ichigo.

"Ichigo! Kuchiki-san!" Sado cam running behind him.

"Kurosaki-kun! Kuchiki-san!" Inoue came running behind him.

"Ishida! Chad! Inoue!" Ichigo struggles to see their faces.

"Kurosaki-kun, where's Kuchiki-sa..." Orihime stuttered as she saw the shinigami she was looking for. She was down on one knee, her hand still gripping the handle of her zanpakuto that she uses for support tightly. She was all covered in cuts and bruises and there was a medium gash on her side. A familiar crimson liquid was seeping through her raven-black locks and it was dripping down from the edge of her right jaw.

"Hi...everyone..." she managed to choked out between her gasps.

"Kuchiki-san!" Orihime ran towards her and started healing her. "Ayame! Shun'o! Soten Kesshun! I reject!" a soft orange light surrounded Rukia and her bleeding came to a stop slowly. Rukia stood up with the help of her zanpakuto. She pulled it out of the ground and started walking towards Orihime, using it as a cane. Orihime catches her as she fell, due to the small amount of reiatsu.

"Kuchiki-san..."

"Inoue-san, don't worry about me. Just...heal...Ichi...go..." she the end of her sentence came to a whisper.

"Kuchiki-san! Hang on! Kuchiki-san! Kuchiki-san!" Orihime yelled desperately, tears threatening to flow out of the corner of her eyes.

"Onegai...Inoue-san..." Rukia whispered hoarsely before coughing violently.

"Ha-Hai!" Orihime stopped her Soten Kesshun and ran towards Ichigo, who is still trying to break free from Rukia's bakudou. He was asking the Quincy and the Gentle Giant to free him, but none of them know how. And that was responded by more struggling and cursing from the binded shinigami representative.

"Inoue-san! Wha-" Ishida said as he ran towards the ginger-haired girl.

"Ishida-kun! Help! Please! Kuchiki-san! Kuchiki-san is..." a single tear flow out of the corner of her right eye.

"C-Calm down, Inoue-san! She just lost a lot of reiatsu! She'll be fine after you heal her! Uh...uh..." Ishida stuttered as he tries to calm the usually bubbly girl in front of him.

"Inoue! Is she okay?" Sado ran over to Ishida and Orihime to check on Rukia's condition.

"Oi! What's with all the ruckus over the-...Rukia!" Ichigo struggles to get closer to his group of _nakama_.

"Oh! Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime ran towards him as fast as she could with one of Rukia's arm over her shoulder for support. She tried to keep the petite shinigami in place, as she could hear her slow but heavy breathing.

As soon as Orihime reached Ichigo, she lay Rukia down beside him. "Ayame! Shun'o! Soten Kesshun! I reject!" she said as the familiar soft orange light surrounded Ichigo and the semi-conscious shinigami. "Wha-what happened?" Ichigo yelled.

"Calm down, Kurosaki!" Ishida said as he arrived beside Orihime to make sure she's okay.

"How could I-" Ichigo was cut off.

"She lost a lot of reiatsu..." Orihime said in a small voice.

"How?"

"I-I don't really know... Did she used a lot of kido today?"

"I...I guess. The first time I saw her after she ran off, she had a bad gash on her stomach and was in the middle of fighting _that_ hollow." he pointed his index finger towards the huge hollow. "She probably already used about 5 to 6 kido to destroy it. Then, I told her to heal herself with kido... twice and she healed me once. I also remembered that she used a level 60 kido after. She used a lot, now that you mentioned it..." he continued, recalling his memories. "And I... I wasn't there to protect her..." he stuttered and the let out a yell of desperation.

"Ungh...I-Ichigo?" Rukia was woken up by Ichigo's desperate yell. She sat up and said, "Heh. I see you're still binded by my kido." with a smirk.

"Ru-Rukia..."

"Kuchiki-san!" Orihime cheered out of joy. The soft orange light glowed brighter. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Orihime wiped her single tear away.

"I'm fine. Thanks Inoue-san..." Rukia smiled and stood up.

"Ku-Kuchiki-san, you really should rest for awhi-" she was cut off by the hollow's shriek. They all let out a small gasp and jerked their head at the said hollow's direction.

Rukia stood up and grabbed Sode no Shirayuki. She walked out of the soft light and couldn't suppress a wobble. "Kuchiki-san!" Sado ran over to the raven-haired shinigami and helped her stand.

"I'm fine." she steadied her self, "Let's just kick this hollow's--"

Ichigo cleared his throat rather loudly and when he felt that all eyes were on him, he said, "I think you're forgetting _someone _here, Rukia?"

"Hmm..." she put a hand to her chin and used the other hand to count. "No, I _don't think so_." she grinned.

"Oi! Rukia!" he hollered.

"Stay there and rest. If you do I'll _release_ you."

Ichigo obeyed her and mumbled something about stupid little midget who won't release her damn kido. Rukia smirked and leaped off hesitantly.

"Kuchiki-san! Your wound haven't closed yet!" Orihime shouted. "I'm fine, Inoue-san." Rukia gave her a reassuring smile as she continued leaping.

"Damn her... Does she always need to be looked after?" Ichigo started struggling yet again.

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Rukia landed in front of the pig-masked hollow with Ishida and Sado at her side. "Kuchiki-san, are you sure you're okay?" Sado asked. Though he doesn't show much facial expression, his voice sound concerned.

"Mm-hmm..." Rukia nodded and give him a smile.

"Okay then." blue reiatsu enveloped Sado's right arm, changing it into the right arm of the giant. Then, he blasted a big ball of reiatsu towards the big hollow, which screeched as then blast hit it and make a huge cut at its left leg.

Ishida prepared his bow and shoot 1000 arrows at it without any hesitation. The hollow stepped back as the swarm of arrows hit it -and cut is most of the time- but it's still standing strong.

"Some no Mai! Tsukishiro!" a pure white pillar covered the hollow's arm. The said pillar covered the hollow's right arm, hardened and shattered into little pieces. The hollow screeched as it stepped back, missing it's right arm.

_**Clang!**_

Orihime turned her head to the direction of the noise. "Kuchiki-san!" she shouted as she stood up from her sitting position. Rukia was down on both knees, breathing heavily as she gasped desperately for oxygen. Her wound have reopened, letting blood flow out from the said wound. Orihime ran over to her immediately.

"Oi, Inoue. Everything okay?" Ichigo asked, his back facing her as he continued his struggling to break free. The soft light is starting to fade, since its wielder wasn't there to control it anymore. "Oh, and what was that _clang_ noise?" he continued.

"A-Ah! It was nothing really!" Orihime said, making sure she was keeping her word with Rukia. The gasping shinigami asked her to make sure Ichigo rest properly and won't worry about her too much a moment ago. "Thanks, Inoue-san..." she whispered hoarsely before she fell unconscious.

Orihime catches her just in time with one hand, her other hand covering her own mouth, refraining her from making any noise. She quickly carried her unconscious friend back and put her behind Ichigo, her face facing his back and then she went and quickly stabilized her Soten Kesshun. This time, it glows even brighter than before, her hands trembling as she tried to hold her tears from falling.

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Meanwhile...

"Sado-kun, are you okay?" the tired-looking Quincy asked.

"I'm fine." Sado replied simply. "More importantly, how are we going to beat this hollow?"

"Well... we managed to take its other arm down; so, maybe, just maybe, if we put a lot of reiatsu into our attacks..." Ishida paused.

"Yeah?"

"We might injure him greatly if we focused our attack on one point, rather than three of us shooting randomly."

"We could try that." Sado smirked as he focused a lot of reiatsu into his right arm.

"What do you think, Kuchiki-san?" Ishida asked, turning his head, expecting a four-foot tall shinigami beside him. "Eh...? Kuchiki-san? Where is she?"

"I think she is with Inoue. After all, her wounds haven't healed yet." Sado answered his question.

"True."

"The mask?" Sado asked.

"Yes."

They both aimed at the center of the pig-shaped mask and shoot it with everything they've got. Ishida's arrows fuse together with Sado's blast, making it even bigger. It hit right on target, as the hollow has no more arm to protect itself. The mask cracked halfway as the hollow let out a shrieked of pain.

The two teens on the other hand wobbled a little. They have used almost all of their reiatsu on the last attack.

"Ishida-kun! Sado-kun! Are you okay?" Orihime shouted from afar.

"Y-Yeah, Inoue-san. We're fin—Whoa!!" Ishida yelled as Sado lifted him and started carrying him towards Orihime. "S-Sado-kun! I can walk by myself, thank you!" he said as Sado put him over his shoulder.

"Inoue, if it's not too much to ask, please heal him. He have almost no physical injuries, but his reiatsu is very low." Sado said as he put Ishida down inside the warm orange light, five foot away from Rukia. He bowed down to the ginger-haired girl before running back towards the hollow.

"But, Sado-kun--" Orihime shouted.

"What the hell is happening back there? And why does my left side feels _wet_?" Ichigo asked as he struggled even harder, trying to turn over to his other side.

"Please don't Kurosaki-kun! She wouldn't want you to see her right now!" Orihime begged, but put both her hands to her mouth as she realized that she wasn't supposed to tell him that.

"Ha? Who are you talking abou--" Ichigo started turning over to his back. That is, before Ishida pushed him back to his first position.

"Kurosaki! Listen to Inoue-san just once, would you?!" Ishida yelled as he pushed Ichigo's right cheek with both his hands, not allowing him to see the still-bleeding-and-unconscious Rukia beside him.

"Wha the hell is your problem, Ishida?!" Ichigo struggled even more. The struggling continues until Ishida finally lost due to his lack of reiatsu. Ichigo struggles to turn over to his other side again. He shut his eyes tightly to focus more as he turned successfully to his other side.

_'What the hell? Why is this liquid so...warm?'_ he thought as he opened one of his eyelids slightly. He can't see anyone, including the _her_ Orihime was talking about. Well, he could see the tip of a head at the corner of his eye, with a surprisingly familiar raven-black hair. He also noticed that the 'warm liquid' was blood and it's seeping through the raven-black locks. He opened both his eyes fully and observed his surroundings. He could see the concerned look on Orihime's and Ishida's (wait, Ishida??) face. But then. His eyes widened as her realize that the figure in front of him is...

"_RUKIA!!_"

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	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I do not own BLEACH. Never will.

**A/N: **Hey! Hows everyone been doing? I'm so sorry for the late update!! I'll try to be faster next time. And sorry for the grammar/spelling mistake, etc. Well... the adventure thing is going to be on hiatus for a few chappies, meaning that there will be more fluff... I think... I hope I wrote enough... but anyway, Enjoy!

Thanks to **auburn-haired-sadist-XD** and **anonymous** for reviewing. It was very much appreciated! :)

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Seven_

"_RUKIA!!_"

Ichigo yelled as he struggled more violently than ever. "Rukia! Oi! Rukia! Damn this friggin' bakudou!"

"Kurosaki! Stop it! You'll seriously injure your soul if you keep on struggling!" Ishida yelled, trying to stop Ichigo from struggling.

"Who the hell cares?!" Ichigo yelled back, struggling even more. The spell cracked.

"Kurosaki-kun! Stop it! Please!!" Orihime begged.

"Aaghh!!" Ichigo yelled as he broke free from Rukia's bakudou. He took Rukia in his hand the moment he was freed from the spell. He covered the cut on her head with his free hand. "What happened?!"

"Kurosaki, calm down. She had lost a lot of reiatsu and you yelling isn't going to help her." Ishida fixed his glasses position. "She went back to fight before her wound close properly."

"I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun... I couldn't stop her..." Orihime bit her lower lip and looked away, trying to keep herself from crying.

Ichigo gritted his teeth and looked at the unconscious shinigami in his arms. She was breathing, thank God for that, but it was heavy and unstable. "Not again..." he muttered, barely audible.

_**BOOM!**_

"Sado-kun!" Orihime yelled. She ran over to the gentle giant who was lying on the ground after the hollow had kicked him. The bubbly girl dragged Sado gently and put him inside her Soten Kesshun.

"Chad!" Ichigo called.

"I-Ichigo..." Sado looked up at his orange-haired friend. "Did you broke away from Kuchiki-san's spell?" Sado asked as he lie down on the cold ground.

"That doesn't matter right now! You okay?"

"Good as ever."

Ichigo smirked. "Rest then." he put Rukia down gently and grabbed Zangetsu. "Take care of them, Inoue." he said as he shunpo-ed out of Orihime's Soten Kesshun to fight.

The hollow flinched slightly when he felt enormous amount of reiatsu coming out of the shinigami representative. It flared even more as Ichigo yelled,

"BANKAI!"

Large amount of black reiatsu enveloped him.

"Tensa Zangetsu." A piece of broken chain rattled as the slim, black sword swayed slightly. Ichigo stood there with furrowed eyes, deep in concentration.

_'What's the matter, King? Afraid that it'll kick your sorry ass again?' _the hollow inside him mocked.

"Do you know how he regenerate?" Ichigo asked.

_'Eh? You're asking _me_?' _it mocked.

"Just answer the damn question."

_'No. I do _not _know hoe he regenerate.'_

"You ain't lyin' are yo--"

_'Heh. I can see you finally left the dead weight behind.'_

"She's not a friggin' dead weight!!" Ichigo yelled as he finally leaped up towards the hollow and slashed its stomach diagonally. The hollow screamed as it backed away.

_'Admit it, King. The only reason that you let that dead weight fights with you is because you--'_

"She's not a freakin' dead weight, dammit! And no, I do not!!" Ichigo shunpo-ed to the hollow's back and slashed it vertically. He could felt his _other side_ raised an eyebrow at him.

_'Eh? You don't care about her?'_

"Of course I care about her!" Ichigo shunpo-ed back to the front.

_'Then why did you say you 'do not'?'_

"Just shut the hell up, would you??" Ichigo slashed the hollow mask through the crack that Ishida and Sado had created moments ago, leaving it to disintegrate. He then walked back to his _nakama_. "How is she?" he asked.

_'Ah... so now you're _worried _about her...' _his hollow mocked yet again.

"She's fine, Kurosaki-kun. Just fine. And she's healing quite briskly compare to--" Orihime replied.

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP??" Ichigo yelled at his inner hollow. Sado and Ishida stifled a small gasp at the carrot-top's reaction. Orihime looked shocked as the smile slowly dropped from her face.

"Go-Gomenasai Kurosaki-kun... I didn't mean to..." Orihime stammered.

Ichigo realized what he just did and quickly said, "Oh no! I didn't mean you, Inoue. Just the freakin' bastard inside my head..." the last part of his sentence came to a mumble. He shook his head once more to clear his mind and went in inside Orihime's Soten Kesshun to check on his friends.

Sado was sitting down Indian style, being unusually quiet as always. Ishida was sitting down as well, quietly complaining about his dirty tie.

Ichigo sat down next to Rukia, legs crossed. He accidentally woke her up by tucking a strand of her ebony hair behind her ear.

Rukia opened her eyes slightly, checking if danger is still near. She could only see one thing.

Orange.

Bright, bright orange.

Just like the sun.

She opened her eyes completely, her violet orbs scanning the area as she sat up.

"'Lo, fruit-top!" she said in an unusually cheery voice. A vein popped out of the said fruit-top's head.

"What the hell did you just called me, MIDGET??" he hollered.

The bickering continued as Ishida looked at his watch. "Damn! Sado-kun, Inoue-san, I think we should get back to class now!" he said, pointing at his watch for Sado and Orihime to see.

"Oh no!" Orihime said, putting both her hands on both side of her jaw. "I hope Ochi-sensei will let us slide this time. See you later, Kurosaki-kun! Kuchiki-san!" she said cheerily as she stopped her Soten Kesshun and ran towards the school with Ishida and Sado behind her.

Ichigo and Rukia stopped bickering for a moment and said, "Ha?"

"Nee-san!!" Kon leaped up out of nowhere, _again_, and hugged Rukia. "I missed you so much! That bastard, Ichigo, leaving me all alone at school (he was talking about the time when Ichigo has pull him off of his face and threw him on the ground). He didn't do anything bad to you, did he?"

"Ha?" Rukia answered with a raised eyebrow as Ichigo ripped Kon off of Rukia and held his head in front of his face.

"What the hell did you mean by that?" Ichigo said in a low, threatening voice.

"Oh please, you know what I meant by that. _Did_ you do anything bad to her? As if in, did you take advantage of her innocence and naivety and--" Kon was cut off by a hard push at the back of his head to the ground.

"To hell with that!" Ichigo yelled, blushing furiously, "I did not do anything to her that was out of the usual!"

"And by usual you mean--" Kon managed to choked out, only to be pushed even harder into the ground by the blushing Ichigo.

_'He got you there, King.'_ his inner hollow laughed maniacally.

_'The hell?' _he thought, blushing even more (if that's possible),_ 'They're ganging up against me, now?? Wait, where's Rukia?'_ he looked around and realized that she was on the edge of the lake, crouching down with her back turned to him. He stopped pushing Kon, got up and walked towards her.

"Oi, Rukia. What'cha doing?" he asked.

Rukia turned her whole body - still crouching sown - to face the carrot-top behind her. Well, she have to turn her head upwards if she really wanted to face him, but she thought the glimpse of his spiky orange hair is enough.

"Nothing." she replied nonchalantly. Ichigo crouched down to accompany her.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her and leaned to his left to peek behind her, only to have the petite shinigami leaning to her right, blocking his sight. Then, he leaned to his right and she leaned to her left, blocking his sight yet again. His eyebrows twitched in annoyance as Rukia blocked his sight again by leaning backward when he leaned forward.

"Ichigo, what are you doing?" Rukia asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"_Me_? What are _you_ doing?" he retorted back.

"Nothing." she said as she averted her eyes from his.

"Nothing, my foot. Spill, Rukia."

"What is there to spill?"

"Gah! Just move!" he put his left hand on her right shoulder and pushed her out of the way.

Rukia let out a small gasp as she stumbled to her left.

"Eh? What's _this_?" Ichigo asked as he stared to a deep green lump that Rukia has been hiding from him. He reached his hand out to touch - well, poke - the thing, but Rukia slapped it away and took the lump.

"Don't hurt her!" she said as she hold the said lump gently.

"Her? What do you mean--" **the lump moved** "Whoa! It moved!" he pointed his index finger at it...her!

"Of course she moved! She's _alive_, fool!" Rukia held the lump protectively.

"What _is_ it?" he poked the lump cautiously.

"Wha-- How dare you ask such a _rude_ question! _She_ is a _baby turtle_! A baby turtle named Sofia!" she glared at Ichigo.

"Is _that_ why you came running here before?"

Rukia gave him a look that says, le-duh?! "Obviously." she replied calmly, a method she learned from her nii-sama.

"So the reason you didn't want me to take you to the nurse's office is--" Rukia cut him off.

"Yes. It's because after the treatment the nurse give me, you'll follow me around all day, _observing_ whatever I do and won't let me go anywhere after school in case I got _'hurt'_ again. And I _need_ to feed this poor little thing!"

"You're talking as if I'm a stalker, you know."

"Exactly my point."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched visibly, but he decided to calm down for once and let this one go. His gaze shifted from Rukia to Sofia, then back to Rukia. She noticed this and asked,

"Just _what_ are you looking at? Furthermore, where's Kon?" she stood up and looked around, still with Sofia in her clutch.

"Oh. There you are." she said as she spotted him in the small hole that have formed when Ichigo pushed him in. She picked him up with her free hand and hold him up high. He didn't give away any respond.

"Kon. Wake up. Oi, Kon." she shook the stuffed lion but he's still not responding. Curious, she moved him closer to her face so she could observe his. "Kon--"

"Nee-san!! Let me have your first kis--" Kon puckered his lips and was 1 inch from Rukia's, all ready to kiss her.

That is, before Ichigo grabbed him and practically ripped him off of her, _ruining_ the moment.

"Oi! What the hell?!" Kon yelled, trying to break free from Ichigo's firm grip.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen on _my_ watch, _pal_." Ichigo scowled.

"Wha--" Kon stuttered. "That's not fair! Just because _you_ want to have her first kiss, doesn't mean that you have to take away _my_ chance!" he struggled even more.

Ichigo felt his face heated up at the mod-soul sentence and yelled, "Shut up!" before dipping his hand into Kon's mouth to find the soul candy.

"Mmh!! Mmhh!!" Kon struggled.

"A-ha! There we go!" Ichigo said as he yanked his hand out of the now-lifeless stuffed animal, the soul candy within his possession. "'K then! Let's go home, Rukia!"

"Eh? What about Sofia?"

"We can take her home. Don't really think it'll be a problem." he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Oh, and wait here for a moment, will ya?" he tossed the lion plushy along with the soul candy to Rukia, who nodded as she catches both of them. Ichigo shunpo-ed away without another word.

Two minutes later, the arriving Ichigo was greeted by,

"Oi, Ichigo! What're you coming back here for?! Go to hell already!" Kon yelled as he punched him with his – unfortunately for him – soft paws.

Ichigo glared at Rukia who responded with a,

"What?! I was bored and you certainly did _not_ say anything about _not_ putting Kon back to his body!"

Ichigo sighed, dropped the bodies he was carrying and grabbed Kon by the back of his neck, pulling him close to his face so he can get the soul candy out again.

Kon, realizing what was happening, quickly said,

"Wa-Wait! Ichigo! Let me tell you what happened to nee-san while you were gone!"

Ichigo stopped his action and raised an eyebrow at him, "I was gone for like, two minutes."

"A lot can happen in those past two minutes. You wanna know, don't you?" Ichigo stared blankly at the talking stuffed animal in front of him. "Okay, then. I'll tell you." Kon continued, gesturing Ichigo to lean so he could whispered to him.

"So, Ichigo, what happened was..." Kon paused. Ichigo nodded, gesturing him to continue. "I got her first k-i-s-s..."

Kon whisper echoed in Ichigo's brain. It took a while for him to completely progressed the sentence Kon just whispered to him, but he did anyway, because he yelled,

"You WHAT??"

Point proven.

"Yep. It's true, all true." Kon said while sniffling, feeling proud of himself.

"Uso." Ichigo said simply.

"I am not! And I can tell you how it went!"

_Flashback (Kon's style & P.O.V)_

_Nee-san put my soul back in my beautiful body and so, I sat up immediately. Her face was in front of mine and I could've kissed her if she hadn't put her hand in front of my face._

_'Thank goodness for her reflexes.'_ Ichigo thought.

_And so, I started asking her about you. Where were you, what did you do to her and stuff._

"What the hell did you mean by that?!" Ichigo yelled.

"Do you wanna know what happened or not?" Kon asked.

"Feh. Fine."

_Yes, as I was saying, I asked her about all that stuff and she said that she didn't know where you were and you didn't do anything to her except the yelling and all. Then, she stood up, carrying that little bastard with her. What was her name again? Safio? Sapphire?_

"Sofia." Ichigo corrected.

"Yeah, whatever." Kon retorted back.

_She started walking towards the lake to let So...Sofia?_

Ichigo nodded.

_Yeah, Sofia, play with the water or something. _I_, couldn't stand my beautiful and precious nee-san being taken away by that...that..._thing_, immediately jumped to her right shoulder. She turned her head to kindly fend me off and that's when our lips met._

_Flashback ended._

"'The hell?!" Ichigo yelled, throwing Kon – who is in la-la-land – to the ground.

"I-Ichigo? What's wrong?" Rukia went over to him, the baby turtle in her hands.

Ichigo looked at her, intensity was clear in his eyes. She responded with a curious look.

"Why are you... looking at me like that?" she asked.

"Like _what_?"

"Eto... it's... uh... your eyes looked so... intense..."

"No, it doesn't!"

"Yes, it do--"

"Let's just go!" he practically shouted. Rukia was taken aback by his action and was about to say something, but the look he has in his eyes stopped her. It was... jealousy? _'But _why_ would he be jealous?' _she thought.

He turned away and started walking, but he stopped a few steps later. He turned to face her, but his eyes is avoiding hers.

"Your gigai. Here." he handed her her gigai.

"Ah... Thanks." she took her gigai with a small smile.

He went back into his own body, picked Kon up and ran away after saying, "See you home."

"Yeah." Rukia replied in whisper after she went into her gigai. She picked Sofia up and started walking towards the Kurosakis' house.

_'What did I do?'_

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	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** I was feeling a little hyper because I ate a little too much sugar (you don't know what those things can do to you!), so I decided to write this chapter. But my USB disk broke when I was halfway through, so I have to re-write the chapter all over again! WAAH!! Oh, and please tell me if anyone is OOC. I'll try my best to fix him/her back to his/her character (If I can, that is). Enjoy!

I'm really sorry in advance for any spelling/grammatical errors.

Thank you to **auburn-haired-sadist-XD**, **anonymous** and **Sherinne** for reviewing! It was very much appreciated!! And so, I'll try to reply to your reviews from now on!

to **anonymous**: he he... thanks... I know the ending was kinda sad, but I wanted it to be that way for some random reason. ;)

To **auburn-haired-sadist-XD**: Sorry if Ichigo is acting like a bastard! For some random reason (again), I kinda want him to be dense. Weird huh? XD

To **Sherinne**: Yeah, I know, the beginning isn't interesting and I'll try my best to keep on writing this story! Oh and don't worry, I'm not offended. :)

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Eight_

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"Nee-san!!" Kon yelled hysterically as Ichigo's grip on him tightened. "Oi, Ichigo! Let me go! I'm not your squeeze toy, you know!!"

No response was heard from the carrot-top. Instead, his grip tightened even more as he ran back to his house._'Why am I acting this way? Gah!'_

_'Heh. That's a surprisingly easy question to answer, King.'_ his inner hollow mocked.

_'Oh yay. You again. _Whoopee._'_

_'King, face it. You're falling in _love_ with her.' _he mocked.

_'Huh? You sure tell a lot of lies, don't you?'_

_'Or is it?' _his inner hollow laughed maniacally. _'_Think_ for a second. I'm your _half_. I know what you're thinkin'.'_

_'Oh, really? Then, since you said that I'm _falling in love _with her, you, as my _half_, would feel the same way as well then.'_

_'Heh. How did you know?'_

_'I knew you didn't-- _what_?'_

_'I'm askin' you how did you know that I _do_ love her?'_

Ichigo was speechless. He had _no_ idea that... that his inner _hollow_ is _in love_ with the girl who lived in his _closet_! He mean, come on!

"..."

"Ichigo! Why the _hell_ are you daydreaming?! I will NEVER forgive you, you bastard! Hurting nee-san like that! How dare you!!" Kon yelled, swinging his small paws frantically at the shinigami substitute.

"Wha--" the said shinigami substitute broke away from his conversation with his inner hollow. "What do you mean?! What did _I _do??"

"Baka! Didn't you see her eyes when you gave her gigai back?! Oh wait, you _didn't_! Well, Mr. I-don't-care-what-have-happened-to-nee-san, for _your_ information, she was worried about you!!"

"Why would she be worried about me?" Ichigo's face showing a blank expression.

"Dammit! You came back, yelled at me for NO REASON WHATSOEVER, I repeat, NO REASON WHATSOEVER, suddenly _glared_ at her and gave her the silent treatment!"

"I didn't glare at her!"

"Oh yeah, _sure_. Tell that to some other airhead and they might believe you." Kon rolled his eyes.

"And _what_ silent treatment?"

"Well, you _ignored_ her!!"

"Kon, just...shut up." he lowered his voice. He stopped running as he reached his house.

"WHAT?? I don't wanna shut up!! I never will!! NEE-SA--!" Ichigo put his hand on Kon's mouth to shut him up.

"I'm home..." he opened the front door with his other hand.

"ICHIGOOOO!!" Isshin came jumping, trying to give his son a welcoming kick. Ichigo dodged the said kick easily, sending Isshin flying outside the house and towards a random lamp post near the sidewalk.

_**BOOF!**_

Rukia let out a small gasp as Isshin collided with the wall (he missed the lamp post) right in front of her.

"Kurosaki-san, are you okay?" she asked, running to the raven-haired man to check whether he's okay or not.

Isshin's head jerked up and he started wailing about a certain son of his who won't respect his loving father. Rukia, obviously confused on what to do, patted his back cautiously and said,

"Uh... It's okay, Kurosaki-san..." with a forced smile and a sweat drop.

Isshin's head turned immediately in surprise towards Rukia. He suddenly hugged her and cried, saying something about him being a proud father for having _such_ an understanding and compassionate daughter-in-law. Rukia blinked at the daughter-in-law part and struggled - gently – to break free from his hug.

"Oi, Old man! Let Rukia-nee go!" Karin yelled from inside the house.

"Mou, Otou-chan! Let, Rukia-nee-chan go!" Yuzu came out of the house and pulled one of Isshin's arms, trying to give Rukia a bigger chance to break free.

"Oh, I get it! It's okay, Karin, Yuzu! Do as your heart yearns and jump into your Papa's welcoming bos--" Isshin was cut off.

"Oi, goat-face! Let her go _already_!!" Ichigo yelled as he throws a random bowl he found at his _beloved_ father.

"How _dare_ you order _me_, you _ungrateful son of mine_!" Isshin's face was having a serious look but his flaring nostrils totally ruined it. He let go of Rukia and stood up, facing his son.

"What the hell did I do??" the said son yelled.

"Would you two shut up! I'm trying to watch tv here!!" Karin came out of the house and joined the _conversation_.

The bickering continued between the Kurosaki family with Rukia watching them from the very same spot that Isshin had hug her. She looked up to the sky and realized that it was no longer the warm orange color. It was deep purple. She took out her soul pager and checked the time.

"7.15??" she accidentally let out a yell. The Kurosakis stopped their bickering – wrestling in Isshin and Ichigo's case – and turned towards the raven-haired girl before registering what she had actually said.

"WAAH!!" Yuzu screamed. "I haven't prepare dinner yet!" and with that, she took 'Bostov' and ran inside the house.

"Wait, Yuzu!" Karin went in after her twin.

"I'll help you, Yuzu-chan!" Rukia chased the twins inside the house, leaving the two Kurosaki men outside, still in their wrestling position, a blank look on their faces.

"Well, I guess I'll be in my room until dinner's ready." Ichigo got up and walked towards the house.

"Hey, Ichigo."

"Yeah?" he replied, not bothering to stop and look at his father's face.

"Do me a favor and don't hurt Rukia-chan, okay?"

"..." he stopped walking and looked up to the sky. "I'll try."

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Dinner had been pretty quiet. No Ichigo and Rukia bickering about something stupid, like, ketchup. Okay, ketchup is _not_ stupid, but it _is_ a stupid thing to be bickering about.

_Flashback – last dinner, yesterday -_

_They were having sirloin steak and french fries today because Yuzu had found a store which sells top quality meat with cheap prices. Isshin was out somewhere, probably buying a stock of medicine for their clinic._

_Rukia was eating her french fries, dipping them in a mysterious substance that Ichigo like to call, 'ketchup'. She was particularly intrigued by this mysterious substance. _'How could this substance be so red, taste like tomato and be liquidly at the _same time_?'_ she thought, observing a small amount of ketchup on the tip of her french fry that she had been holding for the last 5 minutes, twirling it with her delicate fingers._

"_Oi, Rukia. Pass the ketchup, will, ya?" Ichigo asked. He was sitting beside her, hand reached out, waiting for the bottle of 'ketchup'._

_Rukia seemed to be oblivious to his question, still observing and twirling the piece of fried potato with the 'mysterious substance' on top. Apparently, she had put the 'ketchup' on her far end of the table._

"_Oi! Ketchup! I need ketchup!" Ichigo demanded._

_Rukia, once again, was oblivious to his demand and continued twirling her french fry. A vein popped on Ichigo's forehead._

"_Pass me the freakin' ketchup, will ya??" he slammed his fist to the table, which shook slightly in response._

_Now _this_, snapped Rukia out of her stupor._

"_What is it, Kurosaki-kun?" she asked in her 'high school girl' voice._

"_KET-CHUP!!" he yelled even louder. He was irritated by her ignorance at first, and her fake voice aggravated him even more._

"_Okay, okay. Geez, it's _just_ a ketchup." she took the 'ketchup' bottle and opened the cap._

"_Took you long enough, midget." he snorted._

This time_, a vein popped out on Rukia's forehead. Since she couldn't blow her sweet and innocent facade in front of his family, she gave the plastic bottle – which she was holding upwards - a squeeze and didn't notice that some air was trapped at the __bottom of the bottle._

_It didn't squeezed as well as she had predicted, so, she squeezed harder. This time, it gives a good ol' _**PLOP!**_ Sound. She closed her eyes and smirked, seemingly content with her achievement._

'Now _that's_ a response'_ she thought, feeling proud of herself._

"_Why you little--!" she heard a growl. She raised one of her eyebrows and opened her eyelids, just to see Ichigo's hair covered in 'ketchup'. The red liquid was dripping down to his sleeve, making her unable to stifle a guffaw. _

"_'The hell are you laughing at?!" another vein popped out on his forehead._

"_Why, Kurosaki-kun, what happened to you?" she said between her guffaws and – actually – asked a question in her fake voice._

_Ichigo's eyes widened in anger. His gaze shifted from Rukia to Yuzu, to Karin, who both have the exact same questioning look as Rukia on their faces, and then back to Rukia. "Bitch!" he yelled as he chased her around the dining table._

"_Mou, onii-chan! Don't chase Rukia-nee around the table!" Yuzu pouted. He ignored her pout and keeps on chasing Rukia._

"_Yeah, Ichi-nii. We know that you like her already, so don't chase her at dinner because of something that is clearly _your_ fault." Karin backed her twin up while taking some more french fries from the center of the dining table._

_Ichigo halted and froze before slowly turned his head towards the direction of his black-haired little sister. "I WHAT?? A, I do _not_ love her and B, it's MY fault now??" he asked her in disbelief._

_Karin glanced at her brother. His face, as suspected, was red because of either anger, embarrassment or that he is actually blushing but then again... _'Nah... Ichi-nii wouldn't blush because of something so trivial.'_ she thought._

_But, she smirked anyway and said, "A, I never said that you _love_ her, I said that you _like_ her, which could mean that you like her as a friend." she paused to take a look on her brother's face, which got even redder. _'Well what do you know, he _is_ blushing.'

"_And B," she continued, "Yes, it _is _your fault. You asked her for the ketchup bottle, Einstein."_

_Ichigo tried his very best not to blush and ignore his little sister's comment, but it's really hard when you have another 'side' of you who is even more egoistical, maniacal, crazy and cuckoo-headed than you are, mocking and laughing at you from inside your very own _head_! So, his attempt to hide his blush came to no avail and instead of going against explanation A, he went for the B._

"_She squeezed the bottle!" he pointed accusingly at the bewildered Rukia, the red still evident on his face._

"_Yeah, but only because you insulted her." Karin replied without breaking a sweat._

"_Well..." he searched for a comeback in his brain, "She deserved it!" _'Great, what a comeback...' _he thought, mentally slapping himself._

"_What did _I _do?" Rukia asked, the bottle of 'ketchup' still in her possession._

"_Well...uh...Bah! Humbug!" Ichigo threw his arms up in frustration of not having any good comebacks before going to the bathroom to wash the shtoopid 'ketchup' out of his hair._

"_Oni-chan! You're sounding like Scrooge!" Yuzu said from her seat, referring to 'The Christmas Carol' Scrooge._

"_Who is Scrooge?" Ichigo heard Rukia ask, before locking the bathroom door to gain some peace and quiet while washing his hair._

_Flashback Ended._

"Kurosaki-san, may I please be excuse, I have finished my dinner." Rukia asked, wiping the edge of her mouth with a napkin.

"Of course, my dearest Rukia-chan! You don't have to ask for _my _permission!" Isshin answered happily.

"Oh, and may I please go outside? The moon is full tonight and I do not want to miss such a phenomenon."

"Yes, yes! Of course! And may _I _ask, are you meeting a certain someone? A kind of... _friend_, perhaps?" Isshin grinned suspiciously.

Rukia beamed at his question and said, "Yes, I am! That someone is very important to me and I do not like making people wait, so, of you don't mind." She ran up the stairs and a door slam was heard. Isshin smiled happily, pleased with her answer. Yuzu looked questioningly at Karin, who responded with a shrug.

5 minutes later, Rukia came back down wearing a pair of light blue denim, a short sleeved white T-shirt that has a picture of a pair of white angel wings, outlined with the color of amethyst. She was using a pair of white sneakers and a pair of white open finger gloves that started above her elbows. Her hair was pulled into two low pigtails.

The Kurosakis stared in awe at the ebony haired girl. The said ebony haired noticed and asked, "Well...? How do I look?"

"You look beautiful, Rukia-nee! Just beautiful!" Yuzu beamed.

Karin jerked both her thumbs up and grinned. "I agree with Yuzu, Rukia-nee."

Rukia's face light up and she ran to give both girls a big bear hug before,

"Rukia-chan!! You look so beautiful tonight! I'm so proud of you, my third daughter!!" Isshin leaped off of his chair and hugged Rukia tightly.

"Oi, old man! Rukia is not your third daughter!!" Ichigo got up from his seat and kicked Isshin away from Rukia, sending him flying into the kitchen.

"Mou, onii-chan! Don't kick otou-chan into the kitchen! He'll mess things up again!!" Yuzu pouted.

"Well, sor-ree. I'm just trying to help our little _damsel in distress_ over here." he scowled.

Yuzu took a deep breath to calm herself down before asking, "Well, onii-chan?" expectantly.

"Well what?"

"How does she look?"

"You're asking me?"

"Obviously Ichi-nii." Karin rolled her eyes, agitated by her big brother's stupidity. "Well?" she asked expectantly.

"She looks..." Ichigo turned away and scratched the invisible itch on the back of his head. Isshin was eavesdropping from the kitchen, expecting the word O.K, fine, pretty, or, if a miracle happens, beautiful.

"Uh... she looks... uhm..." Ichigo stuttered, pretending as if he's searching for the right word.

Okay, he is, but at _least_ it looked like an act to his sisters. A _horrible_ one at that.

"Come on, Ichi-nii! She don't have all night! Didn't you hear what she just said? She have to meet someone important and so--" Karin demanded.

"Like an angel..." he whispered softly, as if he didn't want anyone to hear that.

Well, to his misfortune, the three Kurosaki - and Rukia – happened to have a very sharp hearing. Karin stopped demanding and stared at her brother, both eyes wide in shock. Yuzu brought her hands to her mouth to stifle a gasp, but it was futile. That _compliment_ was too shocking for her, since it _did_ came out of her brother's mouth.

Her gasp shook Ichigo out of his stupor. He immediately turned to face his sister, who stared at him with this shocked look on their faces while Rukia just blinked, her face altering into an what-did-you-just-say?! Look.

_'Crap. Gotta fix this fast.'_ he thought. "A...Ah!! I was just joking!! Just joking!! Ahah... ahahaha..." he laughed nervously. _'Dammit! Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush...!!'_ he started to blush furiously.

A small tension was built up in the air between the shocked twins, the blushing carrot-top and the realizing girl. The realizing girl was thinking of the exact same thing the twins were thinking. _'Did he just said that I look like an _angel_?? I'm a shinigami for goodness sake! Almost the exact opposite of an angel!' _She felt her cheeks heating up and shook her head vigorously. But the the tension was over because of, of course, Isshin.

"My son! I am so proud of you as well!!" Isshin jumped from the kitchen to hug his son, but was stopped by the said son's foot.

"'The hell?? Were you eavesdropping??" he yelled.

"Ah, Ichigo... My son... If you're ready to propose to her, I assure you, you have my approva— " he was cut off by a second kick from his blushing son.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!!" he shouted on the top of his lungs.

"Oh and by the way, Ichigo..." Rukia joined in.

"What is it?" he asked back in a holding-back-my-anger voice, still mad about the embarrassment he had to endure _just_ to compliment a girl.

"I'm borrowing your i-pod, hope you don't mind!" she replied cheerily as she grabbed her lilac scarf and threw it around her neck. "I'm off!" she called as she ran outside the house.

"Che. What was _that_ about?" Ichigo practically spat.

"What was _what_ about?" Isshin asked.

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"I do?" Isshin asked with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah! What was up with you making me feel embarrassed _just_ for complimenting a girl?!" Just... ah...there's that word again...

"Oh, so you were embarrassed, eh?" Isshin said slyly, his eyes glinting.

"!!" Ichigo made a face as he realized what he just said and stepped back after realizing what he had said to his um..._ unusual_... father.

"Ah! Don't worry about it son! We all gotta feel embarrassed sometimes, right?" Isshin slapped his son's back lovingly. "And by the way, Ichigo..." he whispered, "That looking like an angel line was great! I'm sure you swept her off of her feet!" Isshin laughed as he sat back down on his seat.

"That's not it!! I just read too much Shakespeare last night!!" Ichigo yelled, his face starting to blush yet again.

"Yes, yes... whatever you say son..." his laughter toned down. "I wonder..." he put his hand on his chin.

"What is it _now_?" Ichigo sighed in frustration.

"I was just wondering how could Rukia-chan survive in a -3 winter night without a jacket..."

"Eh? She left without her jacket?" Yuzu joined in.

"She probably forgot about it. I'll g--" Karin was cut off.

"I'll go. Jeez, she's such a pain in the..." his sentences came to a mumble of incoherent words. He walked over to the coat closet, took his red thin winter jacket and grabbed his black scarf from the top shelf. He put his jacket on quickly, not bothering to even zip it, threw his scarf around his neck and put on his winter boots. "I'm off!" he called as he jogged outside the house.

"He...he...he..." Isshin laughed slyly. "I _knew_ he would go after her..."

"Yeah, me too... Did you hear about his compliment to Rukia-nee?"

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Meanwhile, in Yuzu and Karin's room...

"I have to get out of here!" Kon said to himself as he jumped down from Yuzu's bed. He landed on the rug safe and sound and made his way to the door.

"Ngh...Ngh...!!" he reached his hand up to reach the handle, but didn't succeed. He was _way_ too short to even make it halfway to the handle. "Bah! Screw it!" he seethed. "Now, just to think of another way to get out of this room..." he walked in loops and put his finger (?) to his chin.

"A-HA! What was I thinking? I should have go to the window in the first place!" he jumped up to Karin's desk and opened the window carefully.

"Now... 1...2...3... jump!" he leaped off outside. "Sweet, sweet, FREEDOM!! WAIT FOR ME!!"

_**SQUEAK **_

"What the--" Kon mumbled as he felt his head being pushed down to the ground. "Oi! You!! Get off me!!" he pushed his hands—paws (?) to the ground and stood up.

"GRR..." Kon heard a growl. He looked up and see a black pit bull snarling at him.

"Nice...doggy..." he took a step back very slowly. The pit bull took a step forward, growling menacingly at him. Its eyes glint as he started chasing him.

"IYAAA!!" he ran for his dear life. "NEE-SAN!! ICHIGO!! WHERE ARE YOU??"

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**A/N:** he he he... I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I think the next chapter would have a little bit more fluff than the usual... Hmm... you just have to wait and see!!

Hugz and cookiez for everyone!!

-Moonlight-


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Gah!! I always forgot to put the shtoopid disclaimer in every chapter!! But everyone knows that I don't own BLEACH. Cuz if I did, then it wouldn't be BLEACH. :) I don't own _Mou Hitotsu no Birthday_ by Fm.Theta either.

**A/N: **Hiyas all!! I'm feeling VERY hyper today because of this HUGE cotton candy I ate at this random amusement park. SUGAR RUSH!! Anyways, I'm glad that you guys like the ketchup thing. It was very random and it kinda popped into my head, as usual, and I thought that I was making so many flashbacks! Hau...

And, I'm FINALLY over my writer's block!! WOOH!! Finally I know what's going to happen in this story! I just hope that my _'theory'_ is logical enough. I'm not a logical person, really. So about this chapter... I guess there _will_ be some Ichiruki moments... I think...

Thank you to **disinterested**, **Ericd**, **anonymous**, **auburn-haired-sadist-XD** and **x pink cloud x** for reviewing!! Here's my replies!

To...

**disinterested**: Glad you like his moments of embarrassment. I found it fun to embarrass him. I always thought he never has enough embarrassment in his life. XD

**Ericd**: I'm glad you like my story. What happens in this chapter, well... just read to find out! XD

**anonymous**: nye he he... I know Kon is kinda stupid, but I can't stop loving him! He's my 5th favourite character!! Yes, I know... the angel-looking thing is cheesy, but I can't help it! I just wanted Ichigo to get embarrassed!! I'm feeling evil flowing through my veins!! MUAHAH!! XD

**auburn-haired-sadist-XD**: Hollow Ichigo is going to be in this chapter, too!! I'm glad you love my story and I'll try my best to make the fluff as realistic as possible!! Wait... how do you make fluff realistic again...? XD

**x pink cloud x**: He he he... I'm glad you're enjoying the story/chapters and the ketchup incident. It was based on my experience... sob... but I was the ketchup plopper (?), so I didn't get any ketchupy stains!! YAY!!

Thank you for all of the people who has added my story in their alert/favourite list, added me as one of their favourite authors, and reviewed. I LOVE YOU ALL!! XD

I'm very sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes and if any character is OOC -bows-

Enjoy!!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Nine_

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"Huff... huff..." Ichigo panted as he jog, following Rukia's small trail of reiatsu. _'Man. Tonight _is_ cold. Why the hell is she so far away already? Did she ran? Did she--'_ his train of thoughts was interrupted.

_'Hey, King. No time no see.'_ the hollow inside him said.

_'Long time my ass.'_

_'Where's Rukia-chan? I missed what you did a moment ago 'cuz I was sleeping.'_

_'You were freakin' _sleeping_ the _whole time_??'_

_'Yep.'_ it said as it laughed maniacally.

_'Well you can say whatever the hell you want, just don't bother me.'_ Ichigo's pace got quicker.

_'Okay then, I'll start. King, you suck.'_

_'As if I care whether you think I am or not.'_ he turned his head left then right as he jogged, checking if he can spot the ebony-haired girl.

_'Oh, and remember the thing that I said about me being in love with her? Yeah, that was all just to provoke you.' _it laughed maniacally once again.

Ichigo halted, his foot is in mid-air, his eyes widened in anger. "You WHAT??" he yelled out loud.

_'Heh. _That _got your attention.'_

The carrot-top started jogging again as he took deep breaths to stop himself from mentally killing the hollow inside of him. _'So you're not in love with her?'_

_'Maybe. Maybe not.'_

"Tch. Asshole." Ichigo mumbled as he jogged along, still trying to spot the petite girl. He came to a junction and turned left. His eyes widened as he did so and he immediately hid behind a lamp post. _'Heh. Found you, Ru-ki-a.' _his eyes glinted evilly. He catches up with his breath and followed her stealthily. Rukia stopped and glanced behind her. Luckily, Ichigo had already hide beside a vending machine.

_'Wait. Why am I hiding?'_ he thought. _'Right. I just want to know who she was going with without her knowing. Yeah, that's it. I just don't want her to get hurt. _That's _it.'_

"Hmm... that's weird. I thought I saw Ichigo..." Rukia mumbled, one of her eyebrows raised. Ichigo gulped beside the live—i mean _mission_-saving vending machine. "Oh well." she turned and continued walking. Ichigo sighed in relieve.

Rukia looked up to the sky as she walk deliberately. Her eyes slightly widened as she realized something. _'Oh no! I'm gonna miss it!!' _she thought before she started running.

_'What the--?! Why did she ran? Did she noticed me already? I was so sure I concealed my presence... ah, screw it!! She ain't getting away _that_ easily!'_ Ichigo ran after her.

_'Wait! Why do I hear footsteps coming from behind me? And why does its pace got quicker as I run? What if the footsteps belongs to a murderer or this rapist as Ichigo had told me?_ _Well, I can take him down easily then._ _But why won't I stop running??'_ she ran even faster.

_'Damn it! She quickened her pace!'_ Ichigo thought as he quickened his.

The chasing continued until they went to a grassy place, which made Rukia unable to hear Ichigo's footsteps anymore. _'I think I lost him... and look!! I made it!!'_ she thought as she slowed down and walked up a hill.

_'She slowed down. Why? And where am I?'_ Ichigo thought as he looked around. He was near a forest and in front of him was a huge hill that Rukia is walking on. The wind softly blew on the trees, making them swayed a little bit. The leaves have all fell out, making the trees a bit eerie-looking.

_'It's very unusually... serene here...'_ he furrowed his eyebrows, deep in thoughts as he continued on his following. The girl that has been his target sat down on the very top of the hill and set something down beside her, presumably his i-pod since he saw her took his black earphones from it a moment later.

She hugged her knees and hummed as she listened to some of Ichigo's music. Ichigo watched _very_ carefully from afar, waiting for her _friend_ to come.

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15 minutes have passed since Rukia sat on the very top of the hill and Ichigo couldn't take anymore of it. _'She got stood up, huh? Thought so.' _he thought before sighing, _'Well... she is a girl. Maybe I should go there and comfort her... or something.'_ he walked towards the said girl, hands in his pockets.

Rukia noticed a noise coming from behind her. _'Could it be that murderer that was following me a while ago?'_ she thought, eyes narrowed as she tried to glance at the murderer without him noticing her. _'Ah, screw it. Let him murder me if he wants to. I'm dead already anyway.'_ she decided to ignore the murderer and continued on humming.

"Hello, little lady. Give me your purse or I'll kill you!" the murderer threatened (Who suspected that he was a REAL murderer?? 5 points for who did!! XP) with a knife below Rukia's chin.

Ichigo eyes widened from afar. _'How the hell--?! When did he even came here??'_ he started running towards the two silhouettes.

Rukia sighed in annoyance and sarcastically said, "I don't have a purse, oh Mr. Murderer." she rolled her gleaming violet orbs. She calmly took off Ichigo's earphone and put it on the ground, near his i-pod. She then stood up,trying to look clearly at the murderer's face.

"Don't you dare toy with me woman!!" the murderer pulled his knife back and swung it full force at Rukia's neck. She narrowed her eyes and ducked, kicking his feet at a swift motion to the side, making him lose his balance and stumbled. At the same time, Ichigo arrived and give a hard uppercut to his chin, making him rolled off the hill to who knows where.

Rukia looked up and could see a glimpse of orange.

Bright, _bright_ orange.

Okay, maybe not so bright -since it _was_ night- but the moonlight is enough for her to see the orange. The rest was just her imagination. She raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "Are you Ichigo or just another _petty_ murderer?"

"_Of course_ I'm another petty murderer." Ichigo answered sarcastically, rolling his warm brown eyes. He put his hands inside his pocket, trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

Rukia decided to play along and elbowed him on he stomach, hard. He doubled over and yelled, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, MIDGET??"

She smirked and sat down on the welcoming grass, "Ah, so you _are_ Ichigo."

"Che. Whatever." he scowled as he sat down by her right side, Indian style.

"Oh, and by the way, you _suck_ at pretending to be the murderer. Maybe you should dye that orange hair of yours black first before doing something so stupid. People are going to realize that you're the murderer before you know it." she put his earphones back in her ears.

"But since I'm _not_, I _won't_ and I _don't_ care what the hell does other people think of me _or_ my hair." he looked at her suspiciously.

"_What?_" his look was starting to annoy her a little.

"Where's your _friend_? _Did the little miss Kuchiki Rukia got stood up?_" he smirked smugly.

"_Stood up? _As if. And my _friend_ has been here for a while, _thank you very much_." she rolled her eyes and copied Ichigo's smirk.

"_Oh really?_ Where is he, then? I can't see him anywhere."

Rukia raised an eyebrow at Ichigo's sentences. "Whoever said that my friend is a _he_? And _she_ is right here, beside me, the whole time." she gestured to her left with her hand. Ichigo leaned over and realized that it was...

"_Sofia? She's your friend?_" he asked incredulously.

"Of course! Who _else_ do you _think_ it is?" she answered with the exact same incredulous tone as Ichigo just did.

"Well..." he scratched the back of his head, waiting for an answer to magically pop out. "Never mind. How did you know about this place anyway?"

"Oh, Inoue told me. She also told me that if I come here with someone special, something good might happen. So, I took Sofia with me." she picked Sofia up and settled her down on her lap, stroking her head gently.

"Oh..." he replied, "Wait a minute! _She's_ your special someone?" he asked back as realization dawned on him.

"Yeah. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just thought that your special someone would be a _human_ like Inoue, Renji, your nii-sama or... me." the last part of his sentence came to a mumble.

"Or who?"

"Forget it."

"Well, I was going to take Inoue and Arisawa with me, but they said that had plans with Chizuru and I do _not_ want to risk it. I also thought about asking Renji or nii-sama, but they're both in Soul Society! It'll just be another burden for them to come along just so they could go to this hill. I also thought about asking you..." she wondered, her finger on her chin, eyebrows furrowed, trying to remember the bunch of people she had in mind.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you." she smiled at him, which brings back the all-too-familiar familiar red tinge on his cheeks. "I was going to ask you when Ochi-sensei was grading our test, but you pissed me off so bad, so I decided to cool off for a little bit. I was about to ask you again after we fought the...unusual... hollow, but you ran away before I could say anything!"

"Ah...So I was the last resort, eh?" the last part of his sentence was meant to be inside his head, but he spoke it out loud. _Again_. _Screw it_.

"Huh?"

"Oh no! I was just spacing out! Just continue." he grinned sheepishly.

"Actually, you were the first person I was going to ask, if I remembered correctly." she said with a tinge of rose on her cheeks, one eyebrow raised as she searched her memories.

"Eh?"

"Ah! Forget it! Oh, and why are you here?" she shook the annoying tinge off of her cheeks and looked at him.

"Oh, right! That's because you forgot your jack...et..." he searched around for Rukia's pear green jacket but the slapped himself on the forehead for forgetting it.

"Aho...! Aho...! Aho...!" a crow (is it a crow?) flew over their heads.

A vein popped out on Ichigo's forehead and he shouted, "SHUT UP YOU DAMN BIRD!!" as his fist shook in the air. _'What the hell is a crow doing in the middle of a cold, winter night?'_

Rukia couldn't help but laugh from the side, watching as the scene unfolded in front of her.

"_Damn_. I must've forgotten it at home. Look, I--" he calmed down and turned to Rukia to apologize, but she cut him off.

"Meh. Don't mind it. I'm not cold anyways." she said between her laughs. Ichigo scowled at her laughs but that scowl was replaced by a look of concern when he saw her shiver as a gust of wind blew.

Sighing, he took of his unzipped jacket and put it over Rukia's body. She quickly looked up, causing the venetian red jacket to fell down to her back, clearly confused about the kind gesture Ichigo just did.

"A-Ah... Don't mind that. I just... don't want to take care of you when you're sick." he looked away. His attempt to hide his kind gesture made Rukia chuckle for a bit.

"Ha—h... I ended up being here with you and Sofia. Guess that made you and Sofia my special people, _ne?_" she looked up, wrapping the red jacket tighter around her to keep her warm.

Ichigo blushed slightly and looked back at her for a while. Her purple reflected the light from the pure white moon, making it looked like it glows by itself. _'Just like the moon.'_ he thought. He wondered why she was so mesmerized by the moon, so, he decided to look up to it, too. He found himself mesmerized by it moments later.

Rukia started humming again a second later and he didn't recognized the song she hummed. He noticed that she still listening to his i-pod the whole time. He frowned before stealing his left earphone from her and putting it properly in his left ear.

_Suki na HITO ni suki to ieru_

_Kirameku tokubetsu na yume_

_Kizutsuku koto mo nani mo osorezu_

_Kakedashite yukeru no nara_

"I've never heard this song before." he said, raising one eyebrow at the raven-haired girl beside him.

Rukia looked at him and said, "I know. I downloaded...it and asked Karin and Yuzu to help me put it in your i-pod." she pointed at the dark red i-pod nano video beside her.

"Why those two..." he grumbled in response.

_Suki na HITO ni suki to ieru_

_Sono hi wa atarashii BAASUDEI_

_Kinou to chigau watashi ni natte_

_mayowazu ni tokihanatsu yo_

_My love for you_

"Hey Ichigo..."

"Hm?"

"Thanks for coming here to make sure I was okay."

"Wha—Who said that I was--" he was cut off by Rukia's infamous glare. It's even more intimidating now since the moonlight made her eyes glow evilly.

"Please don't ruin this moment with your big ego, _Ichigo._" she asked but really, it sounded more like a threat. He gulped in response.

Rukia observed him for a second. He was wearing a red T-shirt with a picture of a black sun in the middle. He layered it with his black hoodie, which was also unzipped. He wore a pair of grey denim and dark brown snow boots. His black scarf was hanging rather loosely on his neck.

_Kimi ni atta hi wa ippai shiawase_

_Kimi ni atta ato ippai samishii kedo_

_Machiawase wo shita nara nee okureru nante ikenai yo_

_Sou ichibyou demo nagaku itai kara..._

"Why did you went bankai on that hollow? I mean, you _know_ you could've finish it with one strike of Getsuga Tenshou without even releasing." Rukia asked.

"'Cuz he hurt the person that meant the world to me." he said, not bothering to even look at her.

Rukia raised an eyebrow at his statement. Then she smirked and sarcastically said, "_Why, Ichigo!_ I didn't know that I'm _that important_ to you!"

"Well, you are." he said with an even tone, no hint of sarcasm or whatsoever in his voice. Rukia felt her cheeks heating up.

_Suki na HITO ni meguriaeta_

_Mabayui hajimete no toki_

_Onaji jikan wo ikite iru koto_

_Sore dake de kiseki dakara_

"Well, you know what? I think that you're trying to get even at me for saying that you're one of my special people is rather mean. I actually meant it, you know." she said with a fake offended tone.

"Well, if you meant it, so did I." he looked into her eyes. She accidentally looked back. They both broke away, looking slightly redder than they did before.

"Let's just... sing along..." she grinned sheepishly before she sang along to the song played on the carrot-top's i-pod.

_Suki na HITO ni meguriaeta_

_Ima koso atarashii BAASUDEI_

_Jishin nai kedo sunao ni natte_

_Ashita koso uchiakeyou_

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as he hear Rukia sang. He didn't know she can sing! Well, he knew she can hum but not sing and strangely, her deep voice actually blended well with the song.

She took a deep breath before singing the last chorus. That was what was suppose to happen if only Ichigo didn't interrupt her by turning her head towards him and lifting her chin up.

"What the--! Ichigo, if you don't mind, I would like to sing along to the last chorus, thank you very much." she said sarcastically, her violet eyes gazed into his chocolate brown questioningly—or was it yellow?

Okay, the carrot-top is in an apocalypse right now. He had no idea what happened after Rukia sang along. He opened his eyes and saw that he was inside his world.

"Huh? What happened? Why am I here?" he asked as he looked around, searching for Zangetsu. "Wait a minute... Where's that damned bastard?" he said, referring to his inner hollow. "No way he is—oh god." he realized what was happening, his inner hollow has somehow pulled him inside. He sighed before yelling, "You ain't getting away with this, ya hear that??"

He concentrated his reiatsu, trying to break through the 'shield' his hollow have created _just_ for him. _'Come on! Break through!!'_ he thought as he saw a small light coming towards him. He quickly pushed himself towards the light and opened his eyes, in the real world this time. The first thing he noticed was Rukia's gleaming eyes filled with curiosity.

_'What is she so curious about? What did he—oh, crap.'_ he thought as he noticed that his hand was lifting her chin up.

_'No need to thank me, King.' _his inner hollow mocked him.

_'Piss off.'_ he retorted back. He has two choices now. One is to be brave and tell—oh sorry, I meant _show_ her how he feels and two is to run away from the truth (Ichigo: _What truth??_) and shrugs it off like it was nothing. Inhaling deeply before exhaling, he choose to go with option one. He cautiously leaned in, slowly closing the gap between them.

Rukia was confused. _Very_ confused. And it's written all over her face. First, he got all pissed at lunch for something, then he got worried when they were fighting the hollow, then he got pissed. _Again_. And now... _'What is he doing?' _she thought as he leaned in even closer. _'Wait. He isn't going to--'_

And then,

She felt an electric jolt going through her petite body.

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**A/N: **How was that for a fluff moment? I hope its not too cheesy cuz I worked a long time to made it this way. And... you'll probably hate me for the next chapter. But if you can, please don't, I'm begging you... :'(


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I don't own BLEACH. HUWAAA!! Fate is unfair to mee...!!

**A/N: **Hellosh all!! How are ya doing? I'm feeling pretty bored over here, thinking that I have no life, sitting down in front of a computer that's not even mine. Yeah, so since I have nothing to do, I started working on this manga, which I have to say, have HORRIBLE and HORRENDOUS artwork made by, yours truly. I haven't even got the plot line set yet! And the all-too-familiar writer's block is haunting me AGAIN!! NUU!! TTMTT

Well... about the hating me thingy... maybe I kinda exaggerated it a little bit. Maybe. Or maybe not.

So...I'm guessing that none of you thought that the footsteps belong to a real murderer in the last chapter? \:)

Thanks to **auburn-haired-sadist-XD**, **Ericd **and **disinterested** for reviewing the last chapter! It was very much appreciated!

So, replies away!! To...

**auburn-haired-sadist-XD**: Hau... I don't want you to hate me either but you might if you read this chapter... :( I like turtle too! Three cheers for all the turtles in the world! HIP HIP! HOORAY! HIP HIP! HOORAY! HIP HIP! HOORAY!! XD

**Ericd**: Maybe you will hate me, maybe you won't. If you don't, -letting out a sigh of relieve-, but if you do, I'm sorry! Thanks, I had a lot of fun writing that last chapter. :)

**Disinterested**: Well, as I have said, maybe you will hate me, maybe you won't. It all depends on your reaction. :)

Sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Enjoy!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Ten_

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"Oi Ichigo! There's one coming your way!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo turned and slashed the said hollow in half. It disintegrate into thin air briskly. "That's the third one this hour." he scowled as he swing Zangetsu to his shoulder.

"It's usually not this much," Rukia furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. Ichigo replied with a, "Feh," and scowled even more. She raised an eyebrow at his action. What did she do _this time_?

Well...

_Flashback... _

_Rukia was confused. Very confused. And it's written all over her face. First, he got all pissed at lunch for something, then he got worried when they were fighting the __hollow, then he got pissed. _Again._ And now...'What_ is he _doing_?' _Rukia thought as Ichigo tightened his hold on her chin, lifting it up. He leans in closer and closed his eyes. _'Wait, he isn't going to--'

_And then,_

_She felt an electric jolt going through her petite body._

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_It was her soul pager _vibration. (See? I told you. Sorry, if I got your hopes up on the last chapter. I'm VERY bad with fluff.) _She snapped her train of thoughts, quickly took her vibrating soul pager out and said, "Ichigo! Order!"_

_He fell down to Rukia's lap with a massive sweat drop. _'Dammit!! Now of all times?? Just when I was about to k-ki-ki-kis--'

'Kiss her?'

'Wah! _Oh. _It's _you_.'

'What's up, King? How was it?'

'How was _what_?'

'Your kiss with Rukia-chan, of course.'

'It didn't freakin' happen.'

'It didn't, eh? Why? Did you backed out like a coward or--'

'Her freakin'_ soul pager_ rang—well, _vibrated_ at the very last moment!!'

'Heh. Just your luck, Ki--'

"_Ichigo!!" a female voice shot up. He quickly turned his head to the direction of the said voice. "What are you doing? The hollows are nearing!! Chappy, will you please take care of Sofia?" she continued, already in her shinigami form._

"_Yes, yes, Rukia-sama! Pyon!" Chappy replied._

"_Let's go!"_

"_Yeah..." he stood up, took out his shinigami representative badge and pushed his soul out of his body. Then, they ran to the hollows._

_Flashback Ends_

"Ichigo, what did I do?" Rukia asked as they ran back to the hill to get their bodies.

"Nothing," he replied as his scowl got even deeper. "It's not like it was _important_ or anything," he continued with _big_ emphasis on 'important'.

"You know, you really shouldn't keep it all bottled inside, it _will _affect your features someday. For example, your perma-frown," she explained with a proud smile, feeling all superior. Ichigo glared at the petite shinigami that's running by his side. She looked back with innocence all over her face.

_'Damn it. Why does she have to have that kind of face _now?' he looked away.

"Oi, Ichigo. What were you going to do to me before?"

"Eh?" he looked back.

"You know, when you lifted my chin up," she pointed at her chin with her index finger.

"Forget it. It was nothing," he blushed lightly at the thought.

"Really? Because at the moment I thought you were going to..." she drifted off.

"Yeah?" he raised an eyebrow.

"N-Nothing," she stuttered, a tint of rose on her cheeks. _'Damn it. I've been reading too much of Yuzu's _blasted_ shojo manga. I'm getting too soft.'_ Oh yes, blame it _all_ on the manga.

"Rukia."

"Hmm?"

"Remember what you said about my name?"

"Yeah. It does mean strawberry, right?"

Ichigo flinched visibly as they went up the hill. "Yes and no," he replied as he got into his body. Rukia already got inside hers and was stroking the back of Sofia's head gently. They stay still for a while, looking at the pure white moon and the gleaming starts.

"Huh? What do you mean, yes _and_ no?"

He sighed deeply before starting his explanation. "Yes, Ichigo _does_ means strawberry. But it can also mean a number one guardian..."

"Really?" her violet eyes widened in excitement.

"Yeah... and I was just wondering..." he looked away.

Rukia tilted her head to one side. "Yeah?"

Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "I was just wondering if... I could be _your_ number one guardian..." he said with a smaller voice, but is filled with determination.

Rukia's eyes widened for the second time this night but it softened immediately when she saw a glimpse of his face. He was blushing; why, she does not know, but his warm hazel eyes is showing a lot of courage and determination. She smiled genuinely and said, "Of course, you can! But I gotta ask you one thing as well."

He turned his head and face her. "What is it?"

"Why are you being so weird today? I mean, you kinda blush a lot, did you notice?" she narrowed her eyes questioningly.

"Wha--! I am _not_ being weird and I do _not_ blush!" he said with a lot of pride in his voice.

"Yes, you are!! You're being all _mushy_ and stuff!" she put one of her hands on her waist, the other is holding Sofia gently. The said baby turtle looked questioningly at her owner, then at the carrot-top. It tilted its head, as if questioning them about what was happening.

"_Mushy_?? _Excuse me_! I, _Kurosaki Ichigo_, are _not_ MUSHY!!" he glared angrily at her while jerking a thumb at himself for a little bit of emphasis on his name.

"Oh yeah? Really? Then let me ask you one more thing. Why _did_ you ask to be my number one guardian??" she glared straight back at him intensely.

Ichigo froze at her question. It was too... _direct_ for him. Rukia saw the look he had on his face and smirked. "Ha! I _knew_ it. You _are_ being mushy!"

"Well...uh...oh! Will you look at the time! We should go now!" he pretended to look at his watch ,then he grabbed Rukia's wrist and _then_ he pulled her to run along with him.

"Wha—Wait a minute! I didn't zip your jacket properly! I didn't zip your jacket pocket properly either! Your i-pod might fall!!" Rukia struggled to zip his jacket – which was too big for her – and held Sofia with her hand with Ichigo pulling her other hand. It's not an easy task considering Ichigo was running like there was no tomorrow.

Ichigo let out an annoyed groan before stopping suddenly. Rukia kept on running since the idea of Ichigo stopping suddenly hadn't really progressed into her brain just yet. He pulled her back, let her wrist go and crouched down. She stumbled back because of the force the carrot-top was giving her as her eyes widened slightly.

Ichigo didn't know _why_ he did this out of his _instincts_. All he could think of was he needed to go home soon badly. _Very_ badly. So, after he pulled Rukia back, letting go of her small wrist and crouched down, he put one of his arm under her knee and the other one behind her neck and out of instincts, again, he picked her up bridal style and started running home again.

Rukia had _no idea_ how he did it. She was completely bewildered by his actions today. She quickly hid the shocked expression she had as she realized that she was in his arms and furiously yelled, "What did you do that for?! I thought I was gonna fall back there! What kind of number one guardian _are_ you?!"

"Well, _sor-ree_ if I thought you had some _problems_ on zipping my_ jacket_!" he yelled as he glared intensely at her.

"You could've stop and wait, you know! Instead of pulling this _barbaric_ stunt!" she held Sofia protectively and the said baby turtle dozed off noiselessly in her hands.

"It's not _my_ fault I wanted to get home! It's freakin' _2 AM_!!"

"It _is_? Wow... Time does fly when..." Ichigo could barely hear the last part of her sentence.

"What?? I couldn't hear you!"

"That's 'cuz you're not _meant_ to hear it, idiot!"

"Wha--"

"ICHIGO!!" a male voice cut him off.

"God... Not _again_..." he muttered as he dodged his father's 'welcome home' kick. Isshin went flying into the lamp post this time. He didn't realize that he reached his house already. All those bickering with Rukia kinda blocked off his senses.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM, OLD MAN??" he yelled furiously, "You could've hurt Rukia, you know!"

"Eh? Rukia-chan?" Isshin miraculously recoiled from his encounter with Mr. Lamp Post. He stood up and face his son, eyes gleaming like the thousand stars in the sky. Then, his eyes narrowed, one of his eyebrows raised up sky high and with a sly grin, he asked, "Why is Rukia-chan in your arms?"

"Eh? What do you--" Ichigo realized that he was _still_ carrying Rukia the whole time. He accidentally let her go in surprise and she fell flat on her behind.

"That hurts, you fool!" she stood up and whacked his head, completely forgot about her sweet demeanor. "_Think_ about what could've happen to Sofia!"

"Who's Sofia?" **_GASP_** "Could it be..." Isshin's face was showing a lot of shock, "My long-awaited GRANCHIL--!!" then he was cut off by his son's direct kick at his face.

"Don't you DARE finish that sentence!! And, no, it isn't!! It's a THING for goodness sake!!" Ichigo yelled with a red face after sending Isshin flying 10 feet back. "Ow!" he felt a shoe being thrust toward his shin.

"Ichigo! How dare you call Sofia a... a... _THING_!!" Rukia yelled furiously after she kicked Ichigo's shin – yes, it was her. _Major_ surprise there. She hmph-ed at him before making her way inside the house.

"Rukia-chan! Let me see her!!" Isshin briskly retaliated and blocked the front door with big, glassy eyes. If Rukia didn't know any better, she could mistaken his eyes with that of a puppy.

"Eh? S-Sure, Kurosaki-san." Rukia cautiously reached her hand out to show the sleeping baby turtle - despite all of the ruckus they had made - to the father, with a set of gleaming eyes.

Isshin cooed and aww-ed at Sofia. "Do tell me, Rukia-chan, do you prefer to think of her as yours and Ichigo's ba--" he was cut off, by a punch this time and flew inside the quiet house, breaking open the innocent front door.

"Dammit, old man! What the hell is wrong with your brain?!" the carrot-top yelled as he points at his _beloved _father accusingly. The said _beloved_ father pouted and went gloomily into the kitchen. Ichigo rolled his eyes and went inside.

Rukia stared blankly in front of the now-broken door. She had a bewildered look on her face for a moment before inhaling deeply.

She cautiously took a step inside and turned her head right to left, left to right to double check its safety. She was greeted by a comfortable silence. She let out a sigh of relieve as she took another step inside.

"Rukia-chan!!" Isshin popped out in front of her face. She let out a surprise yelp before recomposing herself, but she couldn't help but thought, _'Didn't this man went into the kitchen? How in the Soul Society is he able to do _this_?'_

"Y-Yes?" she replied a little bit too late, but he didn't mind.

"Why are you wearing Ichigo's jacket?" Isshin asked with his infamous sly grin forming on his face.

"Oh, that's because—"

"Leave her alone, would ya!" Ichigo send a flying kick to his father. "Oi. Here." he shoved a small plate of carrots and lettuce in front of her questioning face.

She took it hesitantly with her other hand and raised an eyebrow at him.

"_What_? Baby turtles need to be fed, _don't they_?" he asked with an annoyed tone.

"Well yes, but can't you see that she's _sleeping_?"

Ichigo took a glance at the green 'lump' and looked back at Rukia quizzically. "It doesn't look any different to me."

_**WHACK!**_

"Fool! Her eyes are closed, you know!" she yelled after smacking his head.

"Well, how am _I_ suppose to know? She's covered in a freakin'--wait, what the hell _is_ that?!" he asked incredulously at the _thing_ that was covering the small turtle's head.

"You don't know what this is?? Oh my freaking—how _stupid_ can you be??" she shouted as she stomped her way up the stairs.

"At least I'm tall enough to _see_ that it's covered in _something_!" he followed her up the stairs.

"O-hoh, so _now_ you turned to your preposterous insults for comebacks, huh, Vile Strawberry??"

"So what, Insolent Midget? Afraid that you don't have enough insults up in your _tiny_ _little sleeves_?"

"You bet I do!" she went inside her - Karin and Yuzu's - room and slammed the door shut.

"Whatever!" he did the same to his room.

Isshin stared blankly at the animated argument his son and his third daughter were having from the living room. "Young love..." he shook his head and slumped on to the sofa.

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Ichigo stared at his ceiling as if it' the most interesting thing in the world. He sighed as he lay down on his bed, his hands behind his head. "What is up with me?" he mumbled softly. He sat up to open his window, since frankly, he thought that his room is too scorching even thought it's the middle of winter. He sticked his head out of the window, feeling the nice and breezy air of January. Thinking that he won't be able to sleep soon, he put on his black hoodie and head out the window.

There was no balcony or railings outside his window, so it was hard for him to get up to the roof since the window's bottom edge was a bit too small for him to stand on. So, he tried his best to stick his upper body out the window, towards the roof and grabbed the edge of the water drain when he had the chance. He pulled himself up quickly and let out a sigh of relieve. His eyes narrowed as he realized that to get to the other side of the roof, he have to walked at the very top of it, which pretty much looked like a fishing line to him. It doesn't look like a fishing line to anybody else, but to him it does. Maybe it looked like a normal rooftop to anybody who hasn't got a good imagination in their noodles.

He looked upwards to the sky and groaned, "Yep. Gotta cross the fishing line to get better view." and so, he inhaled deeply before cautiously lay his foot down on the 'fishing line'.

_'Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate...'_ he thought as he took another nimble step. _'Balancing is not my game.'_ he sighed.

Ironically, his small huff of air affected a _lot_ of his balancing. His right foot slipped off, leaving him with his hard-to-balance-with left one.

"HUWAA!!" he waved his arms up and down in a futile attempt to balance himself. He tried leaning to his right side, but his little panicking stopped his body from doing so. He fell to his left side on his back and slide smoothly down the roof.

"Crap!" he mumbled as he dig his nails into the roof to slow down. Fortunately, it did help. A little. He's still sliding down the left side of the roof, just a little bit slower than before. That is, until he bumped his head on something.

"Ouch! That hurts, you fool!" a female voice yelled at him.

Ichigo sat up immediately and turned his head towards the voice. He saw an annoyed Rukia, rubbing her sore back his head had hit. She was wearing a black shirt with ¾ sleeves and a pair of white baggy stretchy pants. She was also wearing white Chappy the bunny slippers, but he could see her heels slowly turning pink because of the nippy weather.

"Che. Not my fault you're in my way," he replied as he sat down next to her, his arms propped behind him. His eyes lingered on her for a few second, thinking that something is missing.

"Where is Sofia?" he asked her as he finally realized that she wasn't holding the green lump.

"Sleeping?" she answered with an incredulous tone.

"Oh. I knew that."he said with an embarrassed kind of frown on his face.

They both sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"Hey Ichigo..."

"Hmm?"

"When are you going to go to sleep?"

"Meh. Later."

"Okay then. Wake me up when you will, 'kay?" Rukia said, bringing her hand up to her mouth to cover a yawn.

"Huh? What do you--" he felt a weight dropped onto his right shoulder. The ebony-haired girl was resting her head cosily. "Oi, Rukia..." he poked her head with his index finger.

"Shut up. Don't poke me, baka. I'm trying to sleep." she closed her eyes.

"Ah..." he sighed as he stop his poking. "Okay." he smiled.

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As the two sat quietly, a silhouette was watching them for afar, carefully observing their every move. The wind blew on his robe ever so gently, as if caressing a fragile pair of wings.

"Yes, my lord," the said silhouette talked to what seemed to be a small jet black box. The said black box buzzed. "It seems like Plan A has failed. Let's move on to Plan B, shall we?" the silhouette grinned mysteriously as the darkness enveloped him.

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**About two hours later...**

Rukia woke up by the small tingling feel of coldness at the tip of her nose. Her eyelids fluttered open lazily as she let out a small yawn. "Holy--!" her eyes shot open as she realized that she can't feel her feet. "Wha--? Where am--" she stood up, "Ow!" but felt that she hit her head on something hard, so she sat back down.

"What the--?!" a voice was raised above her.

"Ita..." she massaged her temple gently. "Ichigo... What the _hell_ are you doing there?!"

"Rukia! When did you—wait, did you just punched my jaw?!" he yelled as he rub his sore jaw.

"No, I didn't!!" she yelled, "Oh wait... Maybe I did," she said as she put her index finger on her chin, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to remember what has happened.

"_Maybe_?! You freakin' _headbutted_ it with your _ginormous_ head!" he hollered, his hand forming a fist beside him.

"..." Rukia ignored his last comment. She was trying to remember what happened last night. _'Oh yea!'_ she thought, _'I came up to see the moon, then Ichigo came and sat __beside me, then...'_

"You fool! Why didn't you wake me up?!" she stood up quickly, this time careful enough _not_ to headbutt his jaw again.

"Rukia, what the _hell_ are you talking abou--!" he yelled as he stands up, "_Oh_."

"Yeah," she crossed her arm in front of her chest. "_Oh_," she mimicked him.

"Well, I didn't wake you up because... uh..."

"_Well_?"

"_Because_, you wouldn't wake up!"

"Yes, I would! And even if I won't, you could've at _least_ carry me back inside!"

"Oh? And just _how_ am I suppose to do that without worrying that your midget-of-a-body will suddenly fly off of my arms when a small gust of wind blow?"

"I am _not_ a midget! And the size of my body is none of your business!!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, midget," he turned away and started walking before his right foot slipped off (Wow! Déjà vu!). "WHOA!!" he shouted as he almost fall to his left side. _'How could I forget? We're on the roof!' _he mentally slapped himself on the forehead.

"Ichigo!" Rukia reached out her hands and grabbed his left hand. "Ungh! Why don't you _ever_ listen to me and go on a _diet_?!" she yelled as she try to help Ichigo balance himself.

"Why should I?!" he subconsciously pulled his left arm when he turned to face her.

"Oof!" Rukia felt her feet slipped when Ichigo pulled his arm, thus pulling both of her hands along.

"Crap!" Ichigo turned and circled his right arm around her waist to prevent her from falling. Unfortunately, since _he_ was falling, _she_ fell along _with_ him.

Both of them slide down the roof smoothly. Rukia decided to let go of Ichigo's hand and used her hands to grabbed the edge of the roof at the last moment. Ichigo circled his left arm around her as she let go of his hand, keeping her close to him.

"Ngh! I can't hold on for much longer!" Rukia shouted as her knuckles whitened from gripping the edge of the roof tightly.

"Whatever you do, don't let go! I can't reach the edge! It's too far away!" Ichigo hollered, tightening his arms around her waist.

"It's hard! You're too heav—wait a minute! What are you doing?!" she yelled as she felt his arms tightened around her small waist.

"Well, _sor-ree_ to have a normal weight! And I'm just trying _not_ to fall down here!"

"Can't...hold...on...much...longer!!" she tried to pull herself up, but to no avail.

"Just... Hold on for a little longer, okay?" he shouted. _'What am I doing?! Two stories is _nothing_! I should be uninjured even if I fall down and so should she!'_ he then released his arms and dropped down. She heard a dull thud as he landed on his feet perfectly.

"Ichigo! Are you okay?" she shouted. _'Wait a minute, he _should_ be okay. It's only 4 meters for goodness sake!'_ she thought as she realized how stupid she—okay, _both_ of them had been, acting as if they're going to fall off a 300 meters cliff.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now fall," he patted the dust off of his denim.

"I can't."

"WHAT?! You dropped down from my window _all_ the time!" he cupped his hands on his mouth as he shout.

"I don't _feel_ like falling down and I can't guarantee that I'll land safely! I can't feel any of my feet! They're numb!"

"Well, I'll catch ya then!" he stretched out his hands on front of him.

"_Sure_. _Of course_ I believe you. I mean, _absolutely NONE of this is your fault_." she rolled her violet orbs.

"Shut up and fall down already!" Ichigo jumped and pulled one of her ankles as he drop down.

"But—eep!! Stop pulling my ankle, you imbecile! I'll fall!" she pulled her ankle up.

"That's the point!" he jerked her ankle down. Hard.

"UWAH!!" she shouted as her hands slipped. She felt the freezing air of winter against her back as she fall. She shut her eyes tightly, both hands clenched and placed in front of another on her mouth. She knew she shouldn't be acting this way, but she can't help it. She brought her knees upwards slightly as she prepare for the impact.

The long-awaited impact never come. Instead, she felt an arm behind her neck and her knees, catching her at the last moment. She knew whose it is, but she doesn't want to admit that he actually _did_ keep his words.

Feeling defeated, she sighed deeply and opened her eyes. She could see Ichigo grinning boyishly at her, his amber eyes showing a lot of ego.

"See? I _told_ you that I'll catch you," he said proudly.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, "Just put me down and I am _not_ thanking you."

"Whatever you say, Ms. I-don't-believe-you'll-catch-me-but-you-did." he pulled away his arm - which was holding her knees – gently, letting her steadies herself on the cold ground with his other hand as a support.

"Your foot's alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's much better now,"she stretched her arms. "Oh, and thanks for that last jerk on my ankle. It was _soothing_," she said sarcastically.

"Well _you_ wouldn't drop down so I had to--!" he yelled, but was interrupted by her.

"Whatever. Apology accepted," she grinned triumphantly at him, who hmph-ed in defeat. "What time is it?"

Ichigo searched for his mobile phone inside his denim pocket, "Found it! It's..." he flipped the phone open, "4.30 AM," he flipped his phone close and put it back inside his pocket.

"Ah. Okay then." she finished her stretching and went inside the house with Ichigo following her.

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**A/N: **Not an interesting ending this time... But aren't you curious about the silhouette? I sure hope you are...


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I do not own BLEACH. Don't think I ever will... NUU!! TTOTT

**A/N:** Hi again! Hows your holiday? Or weekend? Or simply, week? Mine had been fine, thank you, and I have to tell you, it was filled with a LOT of JUNK FOODS!! I really don't get why my parents are trying to get me away from them. It's all just so confusing -shakes head to the negative-. Oh, and can you believe that I _finally_ figured out how to use the horizontal line thingy? You know, the paragraph divider thingamajig?

Anyways, I have been thinking about this for awhile... a really, REALLY long while, actually. The big question for me is... SHOULD I CHANGE THE GENRE OF MY STORY?? It kinda worries me every second I'm typing this story, because seriously, I just don't know. Will you pretty please help me and say whether I should change the genre or not? If yes, then to what? Pleasee help me...?? -googley eyes-

Long chapter this time, because it will probably take me about two weeks to finish the next one, especially if I'm _still_ not sure about the changing the genre thing. And yes, this chapter is _verrry_ random. It like a filler, but it's not. Try to enjoy it, ne?

Thank you to **auburn-haired-sadist-XD**, **Ericd**, and **anonymous** for reviewing! It was very much appreciated!

Here's the replies! To...

**auburn-haired-sadist-XD: **I didn't lie to you guys. I was simply... _using_ my words to make you _think_ that they did. Wait... I didn't said they kissed, did I? -checks chapter 9- okay, good I didn't -let out a sigh of of relieve-. Tune in to figure out who the silhouette is! XD

**Ericd: **Tee hee hee... Don't worry, Rukia will be fine in this chapter. Well, mostly. XD

**anonymous: **Maybe it was Sofia, maybe it was not. I like keeping secrets XP

Thank you also to all the people that keeps on reading my story even though it had a weird beginning! And thank you to all the people that added my story to their alert/favourite list!!

I'm sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Enjoy!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Eleven_

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_**GRUMBLE...**_

"..." Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other, eyes narrowed and eyebrows up high.

"Looks like _someone_'s hungry..." Rukia teased, her eyebrows raised even more.

"Ah... Well, I didn't really eat all of my dinner," Ichigo looked away while scratching the back of his head, remembering that he had abandon his dinner to follow Rukia. He leaned against the wall for support.

Rukia grinned as she took a yellow rubber band from the living room table. "I'll make you something, then," she tied her hair up in a high ponytail.

"By make, do you mean--" Ichigo was interrupted.

"Yes! I mean make as if in cook make! Or bake make! Not _make_ make!"she said, irritation was clear in her voice.

Ichigo stared at her with a skeptical look on his face. "You can _cook_?" he asked incredulously.

"What's _that_ suppose to mean?! _Of course_ I can cook!" she said proudly. "I hope raspberry muffin is okay, since it's morning already..." she stood on her tiptoe and took Yuzu's cooking book from the top shelf. She flipped through some pages, looking for the recipe Yuzu had teach her a week ago. "Ah! Here it is," she walked into the kitchen and professionally put on a light blue apron with one hand. "So 1 egg, flour..."she went into the kitchen and gathered some ingredients.

"Actually, I would prefer--" Ichigo suggested, but was cut off yet again.

"When I said I _hope_, it means that it _will_ be and that absolutely _no_ complains are to be heard from you. Capiche?" she glared straight at Ichigo's eyes.

He gulped in response when he saw that Rukia was holding a butcher knife.

"Capiche."

"I thought so," Rukia smirked as she cut... something. Ichigo couldn't see anything because her back was facing him, but he swear that he saw some red liquid splotched on the wall.

"Uh... Can I help?" he asked as he started walking toward her.

Rukia's violet orbs glinted evilly as she turned suddenly and threw the knife she was holding. It missed him by a millimeter and pieced the wall behind him. He halted, his foot in mid-air, his eyes widened in shock.

"No..." she muttered in a low and somewhat dangerous tone. "You're staying over there," she took another knife from the drawer and pointed at the wall behind him. It glinted evilly from the dim light the kitchen lamp had given it. Ichigo gulped again and backed away from the kitchen slowly. _'Wait a minute!'_ he thought, _'Since when did the kitchen light got so dim?!'_

**20 minutes later...**

The smell of warm raspberry muffin filled the kitchen. Rukia took them out of the oven and placed them carefully on a big red plate. She wiped off the sweat on her shoulder using the back of her hand as she let out a sigh if relieve. She smiled, pleased with her creation.

"Oi Rukia! You done?" Ichigo's shout was heard from the living room.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a sec!" she took the apron off and carried the red plate to the living room table. She noticed that Ichigo was sitting on the couch, elbows on his knees. She placed the plate on the edge carefully, so no muffin will roll out of their places.

"There," she said as she went back to the kitchen.

"Great!" Ichigo's face lighted up as he took two of the warm muffins. He took a bite and chewed it slowly, savoring its sweet and slightly sour taste. _'This muffin isn't bad. It's quite good actually. Never knew that she can _cook_. Never knew that she can sing either but who cares!'_ he took a big bite out of the same muffin enthusiastically, happy that his stomach stopped grumbling.

Rukia came back and sat beside him with a small yellow plate filled with muffins on her hand. "Is it good?" she asked.

"Ngh. Ish derishious," he answered with his mouth full, bits of muffins spilling out of his mouth as he do so.

"...Ha?" she replied, trying to comprehend his sentence. He looked at her and swallowed the chewed up muffin in his mouth.

"Yeah. It's delicious," he smirked.

"Heh. Be grateful. This is a one time thing," she smirked back, content with his answer. "Oh, can I take one of your muffins?" she put her own plate down on her lap, grabbed a muffin and took a small bite out of it. She smiled happily as she said, "Oishii!"

"Yeah, you can take one if you want," Ichigo took the red plate from the table and offered her some muffins. "But why? Aren't they both the same?"

Rukia shook her head to the negative. "Nope! They have different fillings. Beside, I couldn't cut the raspberries, it would ruin the taste," she took a muffin out of the red plate. He then put the said plate onto the table.

_'Cut?'_ Ichigo thought, _'What does she mean, cu—oh... the knife thing.'_

"Since you have one of mine, can I have one of yours?" he asked.

"Eh?" she mumbled as she took a bite from the raspberry muffin she baked Ichigo. But before she answer Ichigo's question properly, he grabbed her other hand, that was holding the other kind of muffin, pulled it toward himself and took a bite out of it.

"Wha..." she stuttered, rose tinting her cheeks lightly. _'Why the hell am I blushing?! No, no, I am _not_ blushing. _Definitely_ not. I just have some... _problem_ with the blood that circulate inside my cheeks. Yeah, _that_'s it. But in one of Yuzu's manga it did say that if—ah!! Those _blasted_ shojo mangas!!' _she shook her head furiously to clear her thoughts.

"As I have thought, it _is _strawberry," Ichigo chewed the bite that he stole from Rukia.

"Ichigo..."

"Yeah?"

"You can let go of my hand now."

"A-Ah. Sorry about that," he let go of her hand hesitantly.

"And instead of taking a new one, why did you took a bite from my muffin?" she eyed him suspiciously.

"Ah! That was... uhm... nothing really."

"Nothing. Yeah, _sure_. You just _wasted_ a perfectly good muffin with your bite."

"What do you mean, _waste_?! I just took a small bite and that's it!!" he raised his voice.

"It is not _small_. It's _huge_! _Ginormous_ even!" she raised her voice up as well, as if challenging him to raise his voice up even more.

"Well, I bet my bite is smaller than your too-big-of-a-head, midget!!"

Rukia felt a vein magically popped on her head and the next thing she knew, she was throwing both of her muffins at Ichigo's face. Both hit the desired target majestically.

"Yeah! How's _that_ for a small bite, _strawberry_?!" she yelled out of victory.

Two veins popped out on Ichigo's forehead. One is from the muffin-throwing thing and the other one is from the fact that Rukia had just call him a _strawberry_ and he can't deny it because in a way, it _is_ true. So, his final resolve was to throw his muffins back at her. Sadly, there was only 2 of them left. _'Where the hell did the rest of them go?!'_ he thought. "Agh, screw it!!" he took one of them and threw it at her face.

Rukia, already knowing that this will be coming, ducked out of the way. The muffin hit the ground noiselessly and rolled of somewhere.

"Ichigo! You just wasted another perfectly good muffin!" she laid her plate on the table and stood up brashly.

Ichigo wiped the muffin off of his face and aimed for another shot. Rukia's eyes widened and she started running away from him.

_'Damn. It'll be hard to hit her with my muffin if she runs. Not to mention this is my _last_ muffin.'_ he thought. He caught a glimpse of one of the sofa pillow and smirked inwardly. _'This should help me,'_ he grabbed it and started chasing her.

Around and around they ran, making all sorts of noises inside the supposedly calm and quiet house. She went under the dining table, he chased her out. She jumped over the sofa, he jumped over it, too. So, as the last resort, she quickly went into the kitchen with him on her tail. He blocked her way out as she opened a drawer and pulled out a kitchen knife. He flinched, but his determine-for-revenge look didn't waver for the slightest bit.

"Heh heh heh... The _ultimate_ weapon..." she grinned maliciously at him as her royal-purple orbs glinted evilly.

Ichigo clenched his jaw together, his eyes narrowed and fixed at the kitchen knife. _'What is she going to do with that_?'he slowly brought the sofa pillow up, hiding half of his face in an attempt to defend himself.

"You want to know what I'm going to do with this, Ichigo? Let me help you answer that. I'm going to throw this at your face," her malicious grin widened.

"What the _hell_, Rukia?! That knife is freaking dangerous!!"

"Heh. Of course I knew that. Why else would I be throwing it at _your_ face?" she aimed her glorious kitchen knife at his face. The tip of the sharp knife glinted.

"Wa-Wait a minute! Are you serious?!"

"I wonder if I am..." her grin now look more sardonic than malicious. "HYAH!!" she threw the knife without any hesitation.

"Cih!" he leaned back, the knife missed his nose by an inch and pierced the wall that is way behind him. Rukia took this opportunity and made a run for it. She grabbed his shoulders and used them as support. She jumped over him and quickly dashed out of the kitchen.

"Whoops! Looks like I missed my target!" she shouted.

"Gah! That was beyond dangerous, dammit!!" he shouted as he chased her yet again.

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"Mmm? Onii-chan?" Yuzu rubbed her eyes lazily with her hands as she sat up from her sleeping position. "What was that? Maybe it's just my imagination. Bostafu..." she searched around her bed with her dainty hands. Her eyes shot open as she realized that 'Bostafu' is not in his/her (?) usual place.

"BOSTAFU!!"

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**Meanwhile, somewhere in the neighborhood... world, maybe...**

"Huff... huff... I managed to escape from that damned dog! Huff... huff..." Kon panted as he walked groggily along the dark street. "Where..." he huffed before he looked around. His gloomy and tired eyes shot open as he realized that he do not realize this neighborhood at all.

"JUST WHERE THE HELL AM I!!"

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"Eh? Rukia, did you hear that?" Ichigo halted.

"Wasn't that Yuzu-chan?" Rukia stopped and turned to face him. Ichigo's chocolate coloured eyes glinted as he yelled, "You let your guard down, Rukia! Now prepare for your punishment!!"

He pulled his arm – which held the sofa pillow – back and threw the said pillow at Rukia. She crossed her arms in front of her face in an attempt to block the flying sofa pillow that was directed at her. She felt herself being pushed back down slightly because of the pressure Ichigo had put inside his throw. _'Is this the power of revenge??' _

She pushed her arms up and deflected the sofa pillow. What comes next doesn't really matter to her, as long as she get this shtoopid sofa pillow out of her face. But really, she should have anticipated what's going to happen next because...

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"BOSTAFU!! BOSTAFU!!" Yuzu searched around her bed frantically, throwing the rest of her stuffed animals out of her way.

"Oi, Yuzu, calm down. We'll find him later in the morning. Now go back to sleep," Karin ordered, obviously bothered by her twins frantic screams.

"Demo, Karin-chan..."

"Sleep," Karin ordered as she pulled up her blanket and went back to sleep.

"Ha-Hai," she gave up, her shoulders dropped down gloomily. "I feel thirsty. I'm going to go have a drink," she stood up from her bed and made her way to the door noiselessly, not to bother the sleeping Karin.

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"Oosh!" Ichigo charged, raspberry muffin in his clasp. He is _not_ going to let this golden opportunity pass by.

Rukia grimaced as she saw Ichigo charged at her just as she deflected the damn sofa pillow. He pounced and pushed her by the shoulder hard. She backed away for a few steps and accidentally slipped over the muffin Ichigo had threw at her the first time. She fell down, bringing Ichigo along with her gracefully. Rukia landed with a dull thump on the wooden floor. She pushed her hands on the floor in an attempt to get up, but her attempt was crushed when Ichigo pushed her back down, his black hood hanging loosely over his head.

"No running away _this_ time," he grinned sardonically at his 'hostage' whom he pinned beneath himself with one hand.

"Get off of me!! Ichigo, what are you planning to do—oh, _no_..." her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, _yes_," he nodded slowly, still grinning as he pulled his 'muffin hand' back.

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Yuzu quickened her pace as she heard a dull thump from the living room. She scanned the hallway with her mocha eyes, which are glinting nervously. She started running towards the living room when she heard a terrified scream, which she assumed belong to Rukia.

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"IYAA!!" Rukia screamed as she crossed her arms in front of her face. This scream triggered Ichigo's grin to grew even _more_ sadistic. She shut her eyes tightly, preparing for the upcoming raspberry muffin to hit her face. To think, that her _own_ muffins that _she_ baked would turn their _wrappers_ at her. The _nerve_.

Ichigo swung his 'muffin hand' swiftly to Rukia's face, but he was stopped by yet, _another_ scream.

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"KYAA!!" Yuzu screamed. "Onii-chan! Otou-chan! Karin-chan! Taihen!!" she bellowed, her voice filling every empty void in the house. "Rukia nee-chan is--! Rukia nee-chan is--!! She's going to be punched by a random murderer!! HELP!!"

Ichigo froze, his eyes widened in surprise. _'Yuzu? What is _she_ doing here? Isn't she suppose to be asleep??'_

Rukia smirked slyly before shouting, "No!! Help me!!"

"What?! Rukia, what the--!" she pushed her hand on Ichigo's mouth, in a successful endeavor to shut him up.

"What is it, my beloved daughter?!" Isshin shouted as he dashed to hug his youngest daughter. The said youngest daughter noticed and ran to hide behind her father.

"Waah!! Otou-chan! Rukia-chan is about to get assault by a random murderer!!" she hugged her father tightly from behind.

"What is it _this_ time, Yuzu?" Karin asked sleepily as she scratched the back of her head, her other hand dangling lazily on her side. She walked towards the two members of the family calmly, yawning every now and then.

"Karin-chan!" Yuzu ran and hugged her twin. "Rukia nee-chan is..." she pointed her trembling index finger at the raven-haired girl and the frozen carrot-top.

"Do not fear, Yuzu!! Papa is here!!" Isshin jumped happily towards Yuzu, only to be punched back by Karin. She sighed deeply before saying,

"Ichi-nii, what are you doing?"

"Eh?" Yuzu and Isshin asked in unison.

"Ahahaha..." Ichigo dropped the muffin her was holding and pulled Rukia's hand away from his mouth as he laughed nervously. "It's not what you think, Karin..." he pulled his hood back, revealing his bright orange hair.

Karin raised an eyebrow and smirked, "What do you mean by _'it's not what I think'_?" Ichigo's face reddened and Rukia gave him a look that clearly says, _'Good job, you imbecile.'_ He glared at her before turning his head back to his family groggily.

"Yes, son. What are you doing? Or should I say _were_?" Isshin asked, a sly grin slowly forming on his face.

"Onii-chan?" Yuzu tilted her head to one side innocently, her hand covering her mouth shyly. Ichigo turned his head back at Rukia, looking very annoyed. He sighed deeply before mumbling, "Can you... _help_... me here?"

Rukia smirked. "_Only_ of you admit that I am more superior than you are and admit defeat of the muffin war we were having a minute ago."

"WHAT?! _NEVER_!!" he yelled as he shot her an intense glare, still on top of her, her head between his supporting hands.

Rukia looked at him blankly. "You just _spat_ on me," she stated.

"DO YOU _THINK_ I CARE??" his glare intensified.

"Just admit that I'm more superior and admit defeat already," she rolled her eyes.

"_NEVER_!!"

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"Are we interrupting them or something?" Yuzu whispered.

"Dunno," Karin said nonchalantly. "I'm going back to sleep, see you all later," with that, she walked back to her room.

"I think we are," Isshin replied to his daughter question in whisper. "Let's leave them alone."

Yuzu nodded approvingly.

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"Just admit it already!! How hard is it to say, _'You are more superior than me, oh Rukia-sama and I admit defeat of useless and trivial war we were having a minute ago'_ ?!"

"I ain't admitting any defeats! _Especially _not to you!!" he stubbornly refused.

"Fine. Then I ain't helpin'," she turned her head and scowled just as stubbornly.

Ichigo breathed in deeply before muttering, "You are more superior than me, oh Rukia-sama and I admit defeat of useless and trivial war we were having a minute ago..."

"Huh? What was that? I didn't catch it," she turned her head back at him, her eyes filled with question and curiosity.

"YOU ARE MORE SUPERIOR THAN ME, OH RUKIA-SAMA AND I ADMIT DEFEAT OF USELESS AND TRIVIAL WAR WE WERE HAVING A MINUTE AGO!! There!! _Happy_??"he yelled. Rukia smirked in response.

"See? That wasn't so hard now, _was it_?" her smirk grew into a smile.

"Che, whatever. Just... _yeah_..."

"Why can't you just ask for help like _normal_ people?" she sighed exasperatedly.

"No complains!! I said the stupid sentence, now get to it already!!"

"If you would just say it like you mean it--"

"GET TO IT, DAMMIT!!"

Rukia scoffed, "Fine. Now, since they won't leave, we'll just have to--"

"Uh guys?" Yuzu interrupted her sentence. The two looked up at the brown haired girl questioningly. "Uhm... _yeah_... I think I should catch up with Karin now... see you later!" she giggled nervously and made a run for her room, completely forgotten about her quest to quench her thirst.

"Yes, and son, you don't have to explain any of this. Don't worry, I'll understand," Isshin grinned slyly and gave his son a thumb up before running back to his room with a yell of, "GO FOR IT, MY SON!!"

Rukia raised her delicate eyebrow. "Go for what? Oi, Ichigo, what was he talking about?" she tugged the sleeve of his black hoodie. It really annoyed her that he wouldn't even _look_ at her!

"Oi! Ichigo! Look at me! Answer my question, dammit!!" she tugged his sleeve even harder. Ichigo turned his head to her groggily. He was clenching his jaw so hard, that he was _sure_ that it was going to break soon. "_What_?!" he yelled.

"Go for what? What did your father meant by that?"

Ichigo slightly blushed at the question and looked away, mumbling, "It's... none of your concern." But then, as he realized something, his head snapped back at her with such _incredible_ speed that a small crack was heard from his neck.

"Damn. My neck..." he rubbed it with one hand as he grimaced. Rukia looked at him with an incredulous expression etched on her face. "_WHAT_?!" he yelled as he rubbed his neck furiously. "Augh!!" he accidentally rubbed it too hard. Poor Ichigo and his hard-to-control hands. Rukia sighed in frustration and she swatted his hand away from his neck.

"Oi! What was that for!!" he hollered.

"_That_ was for being an imbecile. Now shut up," she put her hand on the sore spot of his neck and massaged it gently. "Relax, will you? You're too tense for you're own good," she frowned. Ichigo scowled in response and turned his head the other way gently, so he won't strain his neck too much.

"There. Isn't it all better?" she said as she finished her massaging.

"Hmph. It was bound to heal _someday,_ midget," he scoffed.

"There is no nice bone in your body, _is there_?" she crossed her arms, still in their previous position. "Oh, and why did you turned your head so fast?"

"Right! That was because..." he squinted one of his eye, trying to remember the answer to Rukia's question. "Oh, that's right! It was because..." his look turned into a glare. "Wait a minute! Did I admitted that you're more superior than I am _and_ admit defeat for _nothing_?!"

"..." Rukia furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. "Yeah," she nodded slowly. Ichigo's face heated up in anger. "Uhm... Ichigo..."

"WHAT IS IT _THIS_ TIME??"

"You can get off of me now."

"Huh? What do you--" his sentence was cut off by Rukia's icy glare. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"You're on top of me, _idiot_," she frowned.

Ichigo's look of confusion turned into a look of that is bewildered. "I'm _not_!" he protested.

"_Sure_. And I _love_ Keigo," she rolled her eyes, her tone brimming with sarcasm.

"YOU _DO_??"

Rukia breathed deeply, trying to soothed down her nerves. "_Someone_ doesn't get the sarcasm. _Here_, let me make it _easier_ for you," she put her hands on his arms and continued,_ "Move it_, Ichigo. I need you to get the heck off of me and I can't slide out if you're arms are there."

Ichigo looked down to his arms and _finally_ realized it. "WAAAH!!" he shouted as he struggled to get himself off of her.

"Took _you_ long enough," she seethed and blew a strand of hair out of her mouth. It took him the full five minutes to get himself off of Rukia and stood up. Even after he did all the shaking-your-head thing, he still couldn't help but _blush_. Rukia dusted her white pants and asked, "This had been haunting me all day. Just _why_ are you _blushing_??"

Ichigo shook his head furiously once again to clear the annoying red tinge on his cheeks. "I _told_ you! I do not blush! Now shut up about it already!"

"Fine, fine. What time is it now?" she looked around for a clock.

"It's 5.45 AM, midget. The clock is over there," he pointed to a high shelve in front of Rukia. A boyish grin managed to form on his face as he realized something. "Why didn't you find it? It's _right in front_ of you."

"Well, it's because I'm sho--" she stopped and turned to glare at the grinning Ichigo. "Shut up, you blushing idiot!!"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, the grin still forming gloriously on his face. He walked towards her, slammed his hand on top of her head and leaned down to be on her eye level. "What's the problem? Can't finish the word _short_?" he mocked as his face closed in on hers. Their noses were practically touching as she gave him an intense glare. But, upon realizing their close proximity, her eye twitched noticeably and cheeks heated up.

"And you said _I _blush," he mocked again, noticing the blush slowly developing on her cheeks. She gritted her teeth in annoyance, with the _shtoopid_ blush still on her cheeks. She quickly placed her hand on Ichigo's forehead and pushed him away firmly.

"Get out of my face, baka!"

Ichigo stumbled backwards and Rukia sat on the comfy couch. He quickly regained his balance, took the muffin that lay still on the cold floor and sat beside her. She glared at him menacingly.

"You stupid strawberry. You wasted my muffin," she took the other sofa pillow and hugged it, pouting.

"No I didn't. _In fact_, I put it to good use," he grabbed both of her cheeks with one hand and pushed them inwards, forcefully opening—puckering Rukia's lips. "Hai. Now have a taste of your own medicine," he shoved the muffin into her mouth.

"Ngh!!" she waved her arms up and down frantically, the sofa pillow dropped to her lap without a sound. He smirked sardonically at her reaction and he pushed the raspberry muffin harder into her mouth.

"Now chew," he said after he pushed the whole muffin, minus the wrappers, into her mouth. Rukia crossed her arms stubbornly and glared at him, this time with extra spice. He sighed deeply, running a hand through his orange locks. "Must you be so _difficult_?" he grabbed her chin with one hand and the top of her head with the other and moved them in a chewing motion. She obeyed unwillingly and swallowed.

"Now _that_ wasn't so hard, _was it_?" he turned and lay down on the sofa, his head on the sofa pillow that settling cozily on her lap. Rukia fought down the urge to smack his head and tell him to get off when she saw he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. She sighed and put her hands at both her sides, supporting her in a slightly rigid way. She figured that it had been a tough day for him, the strange hollow and all. Realizing that her own eyes were closing, she let out a final yawn before dozing off.

The last thing she could remember, was the strange reiatsu getting nearer.

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**A/N:** Nyii!! I'm finally finished! Quite a long chapter, but it was worth it. Anyways, if you're going to review please tell me if I should change the genre or not! I'm really, really am CONFUSED!! Oh, and do you want me to continue on using this (-.-'-.-'-.-') as a divider or the horizontal line thingy? The second question was trivial but please answer the first one- desu!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:**I do not own BLEACH.

**A/N:** Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter was late! I've been so busy lately. Well... not the good kind of meeting-your-friends-and-having-a-good-time kind of busy, I mean practicing-a-really-really-hard-dance-and-drawing-for-five-and-a-half-hours-straight kind of busy. Not to mention I've been feeling a little bit sluggish lately. So, I'm really sorry!!

Btw, have you seen the new ending?? XP

Thanks to **Ericd**, **anonymous** and **Brambleface -Wolf Within **for reviewing! Here are the replies...

**Ericd: **Thank you for the advice on the genre!! Even if it wasn't an advice, I'll still take it as one, hope you won't mind. Also thanks for the advice on the divider! I (personally) like this one as well... It somehow looks SHINY... XD

**anonymous: **I don't like waiting or secrets either but I sure like keeping them!! XP

**Brambleface -Wolf Within: **Sure! I'll put it in the summary box thingy XP! Thank you for your advice (even if it wasn't meant to be one XP)!

I'm sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes.

Enjoy!

**Time line:** Sometime after the Winter War. Sorry I didn't mention this sooner!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Twelve_

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"Do you think they're awake?"

"...No."

"Let's wake them up, my beloved daugh--" _**POW!**_

_**CRASH!**_

"God, old man! Have you even brushed your teeth yet?!"

Kurosaki Ichigo woke up to the noise he assumed his family was making. He rubbed his eyes lazily with one hand, his other hand dangling limply from his bed. Or at least he thought he was on his bed. But if he was, how come his Dad haven't give him a wake up kick yet?

_'It was probably a full moon last night,'_ he thought.

Yes. Indeed it was a full moon.

Ichigo started drifting back to sleep when he felt something hard hit his forehead. It had startled him and his eyelids fluttered open immediately.

Kuchiki Rukia was sleeping noiselessly on the couch. Sure she was sitting when she dozed off but hey, it was better than nothing, right? She was woken up by some noises around her. She didn't bother on opening her eyes and continued on sleeping. Moments later, she felt herself leaned down subconsciously and hit her forehead on something hard. She moved a little, but all she could think about was sleep. So she went on sleeping. But before she could completely went to La-La-Land, she was woken up by a much louder noise.

"Uwaaah!! Look at them! They're just sooo cute!!" a voice she thought belong to a middle-aged man said. Then she felt her forehead pushed back up brashly.

"'THE HELL?? SHUT UP!!" a voice she _know_ belong to Ichigo yelled as she felt something rose up from her lap. _**THWACK!**_

_**CRASH!**_

"Ngh...? What's going on?" Rukia opened her eyes lazily, scanning the view in front of her. She furrowed her delicate brows in confusion. Something doesn't feel right...

"Nothing much, Rukia-nee. Just those two idiots over there brawling over moronic stuff," Karin answered before sipping her green tea. Rukia looked over to the two 'idiots' and watched as they fought against one another in a rather... _interesting_... way. She shifted her gaze to the sofa and saw traces of something heavy being there.

_'Oh right!' _she thought as everything clicked together. _'Ichigo slept there last night! Wait, did they...'_ her thought were cut off by a cheery voice from the kitchen.

"Rukia nee-chan! What do you want for breakfast?" Yuzu asked.

"I'll have... um... chocolate chip pancakes!" she replied loudly, recalling the food her Home Economic teacher had taught her. But then again, she never really _did_ figured out what chocolate chip was.

"Coming right up!" a few clanging noises were heard.

Rukia stood up and stretched her arms. She went on her tiptoes to see the clock on the top shelf. It was 07.05 AM. She turned her head at Karin, who sets down her cup of tea as she picked up a newspaper with her other hand.

"Ah... My back! It hurts!!" Ichigo complained, making some random swinging motions with his shoulders in an attempt to massage his sore back. Isshin was seen struggling to get up five feet from the orange haired teen, pieces of small rubbles surrounding him. Behind him was a wall with a big crack that Rukia had never seen before. She was about to question Ichigo what had happened before Yuzu pulled her wrist and gently pushed her to sit down on one of the dining chairs.

"Here's your breakfast!" Yuzu said cheerily as she set down Rukia's breakfast in front of her. Yuzu hummed as she walked over to Karin and read the newspaper along with her twin.

Rukia stared down at her breakfast, looking more intrigues than ever. The hot pancake has little bits of melted chocolate chip here and there, making it looked even more scrumptious than it supposed to be. Settling beside it was five raspberries and three strawberries. Rukia licked her lips before picking both of the berries and threw them into her mouth. The said mouth then formed a goofy smile as she savour the deliciousness of the two berries.

_'It's heavenly...'_ she thought before picking up her fork and stabbed the first leaf of the chocolate chip pancake on her plain white plate. She opened her mouth as wide as it allowed her to and ate the whole pancake in one bite. She unconsciously put her hand to one side of her cheeks as the goofy smile formed itself once again. She was having _such_ a great time until...

"Oi, midget. What'cha eating?" Ichigo asked from behind her, his hands on the two corners of her chair. She stabbed another leaf of the delicious chocolate chip pancake and answered, "Chocolate chip pancake."

"Ah..." he nodded. "Can I have some?"

A pause.

"No," Rukia answered simply and opened her mouth wide to eat the heavenly pancake.

Ichigo, feeling that he had nothing better to do, grabbed her right hand and ate the stabbed pancake. Rukia blinked twice before comprehending what just happened. Ichigo stole her food. Again!!

"It's good," Ichigo said with the pancake in his mouth. Rukia felt her blood boiled and she turned her upper body to him. With one swift motion, she slapped the top of his head, making him almost choke on the chocolate chip pancake. He doubled over and went to a fit of coughs while Rukia went back to her eating.

"Serves you right," she said as she threw another raspberry into her mouth. A vein _almost_ popped on his forehead. He stood up straight, practically slammed his hand onto Rukia's head and turned it to him.

"Listen here and listen good, midget. I _want_ that pancake and I'll get it no matter what."

"Ah, I see your sense of perseverance has knocked in, hmm?"

"You bet it has," they threw each other a glare with sparks on the middle (Dunno what the sparky thingis called so... yeah). Isshin and Karin watched them with intrigued expression from the sideline.

"Onii-chan! Rukia nee-chan! You're going to be late for school!" Yuzu called out from the kitchen.

"Ah! Thanks, Yuzu-chan!" Rukia quickly stood up from her seat. "I call the bathroom!" she yelled as she ran up the stairs.

"Wait! Oi! You're being unfair!" Ichigo ran after her, trying to somehow _stole_ the bathroom before her.

"Since when did _you_ care?" she stuck her tongue out at him, who growled in reponse, and slammed the bathroom door shut.

"Oi!" Ichigo banged on the foor. "Rukia! Let me in! I really need to go!!"

"Use the nature then!" came her voice from behind the white door.

"Dammit! Rukia!"

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"Ichigo! We're going to be late! What the hell are you doing?" Rukia yelled from the living room, all ready in her school's uniform.

"I forgot something, alright?!" Rukia heard a yell from upstairs, to be precise, Ichigo's room, with a dull thud following it.

Rukia crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently. The dull thud continues. A small vein managed to popped on her forehead as she her line of patient finally ended and she stomped her way to Ichigo's room. She kicked the door open and was greeted by a big hug.

"Nee-san!!" Kon cried out of happiness as he hugged her.

"Kon?! What the heck?! Let go!!" Rukia ripped him off of her by his head.

"Nee-san! I missed you so mu--"

"See? _This_ is why I couldn't find my things! _It_ kept on bothering me!" Ichigo interrupted.

"_It_?! Ichigo, How could--"

"How did _he_ bother you?" Rukia cut Kon off.

"Well, nee-san, it's quite simple actually--"

"Random stuff."

"Oi! Stop interrupting m--"

"Ah. I see," Rukia nodded her head in understanding as Sofia popped her head out of her book bag and looked around.

"AAH!!" Kon yelled. "_YOU_!! What are _you_ doing here?!" he pointed his index finger/claw (?) at Sofia. She responded by smiling innocently. Kon gasped in agony.

"Nee-san! How could you? It hurts me to know that you've abandoned me! It hurts, I say!"

Rukia raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you want a kiss to make it all better?"

Ichigo immediately turned his head at her. "WHAT?!" he yelled. "Are you out of your freakin' filled with bunnies min--"

"Yes, nee-san! That would be great!" Kon's eyes glinted happily.

"Okay then. Close your eyes and count to three." Kon closed his eyes and puckered his lips at Rukia. _'3...2...1...'_

_**CHU!**_

Kon opened his eyes and immediately saw Rukia's violet ones. He shifted his gaze to Ichigo, whose eyes are slightly widened in shock. He saw Kon was staring _rudely_ at him and his slightly agape mouth immediately formed a satisfied grin.

"Oi Rukia! Done yet?" he asked.

_'Of course she's not done yet, you barbaric moron!'_ Kon thought. _'How could she be done if it was me--'_

"Yeah," Rukia answered, turning her head to Ichigo's direction.

_'Wait a minute! I'm still kissing someone here! If it's not nee-san, then it must be...'_ Kon lowered his gaze.

"YOU! What the hell are you doing?!" he broke off the kiss and pointed accusingly at Sofia as he dropped down with a squeak onto the floor. She looked as clueless as ever, a smile still plastered on her innocent green face.

"Did you find them, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, getting up from her sitting position.

"No," he answered shortly,trying to get out of the pile of boxes in _Rukia_'s closet. He let out a sigh of relieve as he finally get out of the damn closet and picked one random box up to be inspect thoroughly.

"I'll help you then," Rukia settled down her bag on his bed. "What _are_ you searching for? Is it really _that_ important?"

"I doubt you've seen it, but it's--"

"Nee-san! Why did you do that? _Why_??" Kon asked melodramatically, rivers of tears streaming down his soft cheeks. Rukia sighed deeply before explaining, "You said you wanted a kiss. You got it didn't you? Now be _happy_."

"But, nee-san! I want yesterday's romantic kiss!" Kon yelled. Ichigo's ear perked up at his statement. It's a good thing that Yuzu and Karin went to school half an hour ago with their Dad escorting them. Sure there was a lot of yelling from Karin, saying that she's not a baby anymore, but all in all, it was worth it. Well, at least for Ichigo it was.

"What kiss? I didn't remember any..." Rukia said as her brows furrowed deeply. Ichigo let out a really genuine sigh of relieve as Kon's mouth dropped down in horror. "Oh! You mean that kiss at the lake? Yeah, I remember that one!" Rukia slammed her fist onto her palm. Kon's eyes lighted up as Ichigo dropped the box he was holding.

_**CRASH!**_

Rukia and Kon turned their heads at him, eyebrows raised, weird looks and all. Ichigo feh-ed and gave a light shrug as he picked the box back up and started inspecting it again.

"Yeah... anyways..." Rukia slowly turned her head back at Kon. "Yeah, I remember. It was so _cute_!" she said happily, in the edge of squeeling with delights as if she had just seen a Chappy Parade.

_**CRASH!**_

Rukia and Kon turned their heads at Ichigo again, who seethed, "_What_?!" and picked up the box again, mumbling some incoherent words.

"So you remembered?" Kon asked.

"Of course!"

"Give me one again, then!"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm not the person you kissed yesterday."

_**CRASH! **_(Wow there's a lot of crashing noises here XP)

"Aw shit! My foot!" Ichigo jumped around, holding one foot; after he had foolishly dropped the box, _again_. This time, the said box took revenge and hit his foot. Hard.

"What is _wrong_ with you?! Can't you carry _one small box_?!" Rukia yelled.

"Shut up, woman! Can't you see I'm in pain?!"Ichigo yelled again, still jumping like a jelly bean on one foot.

"Well if you want me to shut up, you shouldn't be foolish, imbecile!"

"_Excuuuse me_ for being fool--"

"Nee-san! What do you mean by it wasn't you?!" Kon cut in.

"Because it wasn't me. You see..."

_Flashback (Rukia Style a.k.a what had _really_ happened and P.O.V)_ Oh great, Moonlight and her shtoopid flashbacks are on it _again_

_Okay, so, I was bored and I have nothing else to do, so I put your soul into your body. You sat up immediately and I put my hand in front of your face since you kinda surprised me. And then, you started asking about Ichigo._

Ichigo decided to put the box down and listened to her story.

_You know, just where he was and blah blah blah... and I answered it with, you know, the usual answer. Then, after all the questions were asked, I carried this little cutie with me to the lake so she could play some water. Well, after that, you just jumped to my right shoulder and you kinda kissed Sofia instead of... well... me! Yeah, I was talking to her at eye-level if you still don't get how did you kiss Sofia instead of me._

_Flashback Ended_

"...and _that_ is what happened,"Rukia finished her explanation. Ichigo glared at Kon menacingly for telling him a fake story and the said stuffed animal is going to have his jaw break off soon.

"S-So that wasn't y-you, nee-san??" Kon asked in horror.

"Nope!" Rukia shook her head to the negative happily and walked towards _her_ closet. She took a random box out and started rummaging through it while Ichigo cracked his fingers, preparing to give Kon hell for making him all pissed yesterday.

"Romeo and Juliet..." Rukia read the title of the book she found in the box out loud. Ichigo suddenly turned his head towards her, Kon's head in his grasp all ready to be beaten up. "Is this what you've been looking for? William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet?" she held the said book up so he could see.

"Uh... No!! But give me that!!" he brashly took the book and stuffed it inside his book bag. "Anyways, let's go!"

"Go where?" Rukia asked.

"To school, dope."

"But I thought you haven't found the thing you were looking for!"

"Yeah I have."

"Is it that _book_?" she picked up her book bag.

"God! Let's just go!" Ichigo took her wrist and pull her along out of his room.

"Oh! I've heard about that book from Inoue!" Rukia said as Ichigo pulled her down the stairs. "Isn't it when two people from different worlds fall in love and—wait a minute! You _read_ that kind of romantic books?"

"N-No! Of course not! I'm studying its... uh... eloquence!"

"Nee-san! Wait for me!" Kon called as he hopped down the stairs.

"Gah!" Ichigo took out his shinigami representative badge, turned and pushed Kon's gikongan out of the stuffed lion. It dropped down to the floor noiselessly as Ichigo barged out the door, still pulling Rukia.

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**About five minutes later...**

"Oi! Let me go! We're gonna be late even with you pulling me!" Rukia hollered.

"Fine! Have it your way, then!" Ichigo grumbled as he let go of her wrist.

"_Thank _you!," Rukia replied sarcastically, her hand rummaging her bag. Ichigo looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "You didn't forget anything, did ya?"

"No, _of course_ not," she pulled out a small brown bag and dipped her hand into it. Moments later, she was eating a slightly burned chocolate chip cookie. "Who knew? It's not bad," she licked the crumbles off her lips and took another chocolate chip cookie.

_**GRUMBLE... **_Rukia looked at Ichigo, her eyebrows shooting up sky high. "_What_?!" he seethed. "I didn't have a proper breakfast, you know!"

"Oh. Okay," Rukia ate the chocolate chip cookie that was on her hand.

"Uhm... Rukia?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to offer me some?"

"No."

"Okay then... Can I _have_ some of your chocolate chip cookie?"

Rukia hesitated before saying, "No."

"No?? Why not??"

"'Cause it's not _perfect _enough for you, that's why."

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"It means, it's _not_ perfect, _im_perfect. Get it? It's slightly burned."

"So? Why do I care?"

"Oh _yeah_. Why _would_ you care about perfection?" she rolled her eyes.

"Wait a minute, Rukia," he stopped in front of her and stopped her by the shoulders. "Don't tell me that this perfection crap has anything to do with the way you act in fourth period yesterday."

"And what if I say it does?"

"Then what does it have to do with me not getting any _cookies_??" he raised his voice.

"You _said_ you like perfect girls!" she raised her voice as well, but slammed her hand to her her mouth when she noticed she had a slip.

"Well I said _girls_ not _cookie_—_aah_..." Ichigo raised an eyebrow with his father's infamous sly grin slapped on his face (Yay! Isshin have a bad influence like a jelly bean!XD Sorry. I'm feeling hyper).

"Is little miss perfectionist trying to be all perfect for _me_?" he mocked.

Rukia stepped back, a shocked expression is slowly forming on her face. Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her. _'Is it?' _she thought. _'Is it because of him that I acted this way?! Is it??'_ her cheeks heated up slightly. Ichigo's grin deformed into a straight line. He really had expected something like, "No, I don't you egoistical idiot!" or _at least_ a good ol' kick in the shin. Her stepping-back-with-a-blush was _totally_ out of the question. He cursed as he realized that he was _blushing_ at her reaction.

Insert awkward moment here.

Realizing that he had to end this awkward moment quickly, he said, "Well _of course_, you're trying to be perfect for me. I mean, who _wouldn't_?"

"Shut up, you egoistical idiot!" the blush on her face disappeared as she whacked him on the head and started walking.

Ichigo jogged to catch up to Rukia. He knew he shouldn't be talking about this topic _again_ but he decided to pry on it anyways. "So why were you trying to be all perfect? I mean, I know that you're a perfectionist and all, but these days it just seems that you're trying even harder."

Rukia sneered at the perfectionist comment. "No reason. I just felt like it," she replied with a vague tone.

"Tch. As if. Just 'felt like it'. Yeah _suuure_... _I_'d believe _that_," he sarcastically commented.

"Good to know," she quickened her pace as she ignored his sarcastic comment. She wished that he would just give up even though she knew it was impossible. He grabbed her right shoulder.

"Rukia."

"Ichigo," she looked over her shoulder.

"Seriously! Just tell me!" he persisted.

"No! Now let my shoulder go. You're pissing me off," she shrugged his hand off of her shoulder.

"Why won't you tell me?!"

"Because it's none of your damned business!" she turned back to face him.

"Do you _think_ I ever care whether it's my business or not?"

"You should," she mumbled in a low voice.

"Well, I don't! And you know damn well that I won't give up until you tell me!"

"You wanna know why? All of this is because I..." she paused mid-sentence as she gather up her thoughts. "It's all because I really, really lik--"

"You what? Oi, Rukia... You there?" Ichigo waved a hand in front of her face. No wonder, the girl just froze on him. In the middle of answering his question!

_'That reiatsu! It's here!'_

"Rukia, you okay?" he put his hands on her shoulders to give her a little shake and that's when he realized that her shoulder has tensed up. In a blink, she give him a hard kick on the stomach, making him flew 15 feet back. She also jumped back right after she kicked him.

_**BOOM!** _A blast of reiryoku hit the spot where they were just a minute ago.

Ichigo and Rukia looked up to where the blast had been coming from. They both saw a tall, thin figure, with his hand reached out in front of him. "Aw... I missed," he grinned mysteriously (yes, for those who haven't figure it out, this is the silhouette from chapter ten). Rukia observed him as the smoke cleared up. He has dark brown hair which goes down to his chin, his pale blue eyes glinted mischievously as he looked at the both of them. He was wearing a long white robe with white hakama, which resembles a lot like the arrancars garment. Except he have no sword.

"Who are you?!" Ichigo bellowed, pushing his soul out using the shinigami representative badge. Rukia searched for her Chappy gikongan inside her bag. The figure raised an eyebrow and said, "Now, now, now. We can't have you do that." And he shunpo-ed off somewhere. Ichigo turned his head to Rukia, who is still fumbling through her bag for her Chappy gikongan.

"Oi! Use my badge!" he threw his shinigami representative badge to her. She dropped her bag and leaned toward the badge to catch it, hands reached out. But she didn't catch it. It made a clanging noise as it hit the ground. He blinked twice. Where did she go?

"Oi, Orange boy. Looking for _her_?" a voice rose up from above. Ichigo quickly grabbed Zangetsu and turned around quickly. He gritted his teeth when he saw Rukia struggling to get free from the mysterious guy's grasp, who had his arm around her neck, slightly choking her.

"Rukia!" he called out. "Bastard! Let her go!" he readied Zangetsu and leaped towards them.

"Sorry, O-Boy. Is it okay if I call you that? Maa. You can't do that," the mysterious guy smirked and raised his hand up to the sky. Out of nowhere, about thirty hollows appeared and charged towards Ichigo.

"Kuh!" he grimaced as one of the bird shaped hollow charged down its sharp talons at him. He blocked the attack with Zangetsu after barely evading a punch another hollow had generously gave him. His eyes glow blue as he roared out, "Getsuga Tenshou!"

The white and blue moon-like fang destroyed the bird shaped hollow and another five hollows around it. "Dammit!" he turned around and swung Zangetsu at a turquoise hollow behind him.

The mysterious guy raised an amused eyebrow as he watched the unfolding massacre below him. "Quite a fighter, ain't he?" he asked Rukia. She didn't respond. He raised another amused eyebrow._ 'Did I killed her already? Whoops. Boss is going to get mad at me...' _he thought. He sighed deeply and run a hand through his hair.

"...beyond the seas in reverse, take steps to the south..." he heard a faint whisper. He jerked his head back a little as a palm was raised to his face.

"Hadou no 31! Shakka--!" Rukia felt a sharp pain on her stomach before she lost her consciousness.

"I was just about to tell you that you shouldn't misbehave. What an irony," the mysterious guy shook his head.

Ichigo panted heavily as he slashed the last hollow. Half of it was small fry, but the other half needs a little trick. "Oi... O-Boy." Ichigo snapped his head at the mysterious guy. His expression hardened at the sight of Rukia hanging unconscious on his arm. "Teme! What did you do to her?!"

"Nothing... Just a simple knock out blow is all..." the mysterious guy snapped his finger. In an instant, a hollow appeared behind Ichigo. The carrot top turned and killed it immediately before turning back to see his opponent. To his surprise, the said opponent was right in front of him, grinning jubilantly as he said, "Sayonara, Kurosaki Ichigo..."

He raised his hand and swung it down, releasing a deep shade of indigo reiryoku towards Ichigo before he had any time to bring Zangetsu up to defend himself.

"Guh!" the reiryoku hit Ichigo's upper body diagonally and slowly clawed its way throught his skin, creating a deep gash. He skidded backwards on his heel and crashed onto a wall, making a huge crack. He fell down to the ground on his stomach with a thud, wheezing heavily as blood flowed out from his deep gash and pooled around him. He gripped Zangetsu's hilt tightly as he tried to get back up, but it was of no use. He had lost a lot of blood from his gash, it had clawed into him too deep. In a way, it reminded him of a chainsaw.

He gritted his teeth as he watched the mysterious guy turned around, reached out his hand and whisper some kind of incantation, Thus, a wooden door appeared magically. It was black and there is weird kind of puzzle on the centre in a shape of very abstract-like octagon. Mysterious guy traced his finger in a very coordinated manner, moving piece by piece gracefully. It made a clacking noise as he moved the last piece into its place and the door opened with a slight creak. He took a step inside it, still carrying Rukia, and the door closed with a loud _**WHAM!**_

Ichigo let go of Zangetsu and tried to crawl his way over there, but he know he's not going to make it. He let out a desperate cry as the door slowly fades away.

Sofia managed to poke her head out of Rukia's bag and struggled to get out of it, which she did. She speed walked (which is very fast compared to an average turtle) towards the dying Ichigo's face. The said shinigami representative looked up when he dude felt something nuzzling his cheek. Sofia stopped as soon as she realized that he had noticed her, which is, again, very quick for an average turtle. He smiled lightly for the turtle as he said,

"I'm failure, aren't I? I let her go for the second time... She'll probably be mad at me when she knows that I died and leave you all alone without anyone to take care of you. I'm sorry I couldn't take care of you, and I'm sorry that I let her go... again..."

Sofia looked at him sadly as he slowly losing his consciousness over his lost of blood.

_'Rukia...'_

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**A/N: **Nyaa! I'm finally done with this chapter! I know, I know, I said that the next update are oing to be in like, two weeks, but I can't help it! I want the story to progress! So, sorry if I have offended you in anyway.

Btw, I'm 16 h and 40 minutes late. I always published at 00.01 (Finland time, of course)

See you next chapter! :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **The only bleach I own is the on that whitened my clothe—wait... I don't even have that one!!

**A/N: **Chikichi! I'm back...! Anyways, yes, the plot _will_ be revealed in this chapter, please tell me whether you had read something like this before or not. I thought out this plot carefully and I'm pretty sure it's original, since I haven't read any plot that is similar to mine... Oh, and an arrival of an OC is in this chapter as well! I'm sorry if you don't like OCs very much, but I need this character to... yeah... read to find out!

Thanks to **Ericd**, **anonymous**, ** xRukiaxx**, **Sierra77 **and **auburn-haired-sadist-XD** for reviewing! It was very much appreciated!

**Ericd: **Nye he he... I'm evil aren't I? Xd

**anonymous: **You shall know what they want as soon as you read this chapter. MUAHAH! Well... I don't k now anything except that it will be out in Japan at 13th of December, it's Rukia-centric (it's a good guess) and Tite Kubo is involved with the... uhm... movie-making (I dunno what it's called but it's something like that) XD

**xRukiaxx: **Wooh! Thanks for saying I have a sense of humour! Not many people says that X) Read and find out!

**Sierra77:** Whee! I have a new fan! I'm glad you love my story! I have a lot of fun writing it XD

**auburn-haired-sadist-XD: **I'm sorry! I couldn't end this _now_, I've planned chapter fourteen already (Yes, I am a lazy bum, so planning a chapter ahead of me is usually out of my league)! Gomenasai! But if you want, you can always think that it ended and this is some kind of... weird... epilogue or something... riiight? :D

I am sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Enjoy!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Thirteen_

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"Kurosaki-san? Kurosaki-san! Are you dead? Oi, Kurosaki-san!"

Kurosaki Ichigo felt a poke on his side. Then another. And then another. It gets harder each time and it started aggravating him a little.

"Kurosaki-san! Wake up!"

The pokes continues. Okay, maybe it's aggravating him a lot. He slightly flinched to avoid the next poke. It's no use. It's like... the finger is following him everywhere or something! He turned to his side with much effort and not to mention, pain. It doesn't feel comfortable. It ain't his mattress, that's for sure.

"Come on... Kurosaki-san... Kuchiki-san is waiting for you..."

Ichigo's eyes flicked open at the mention of Rukia's name.

"Aah! Kurosaki-san! You're up!"

Ichigo stared at the pale green ceiling. Yep, it's not his room alright. It's too... _green_.

_'Right!'_ he thought, _'This is hat-and-clogs—I mean, Urahara-san's place!' _He sat up lazily as he tried to remember what had happened. It was all hazy to him, but he was sure of one thing. Quickly, he turned his head to the owner of the annoying voice, this place and the _pokes_ and asked, "Where's Rukia?"

Urahara flapped open his favourite fan and hid half of his face. "I believe you know the answer to that, Kurosaki-san," he deadpanned.

"So that wasn't a dream," Ichigo whispered softly. "Uh... Oh yeah! How am I here? Last thing that I can remember is dying on a sidewalk..." he inquired.

"You see, your friend has found you and so, she went over to my place and asked for my assistance and Ta-Da! Here I am!"

"Ah... Wait, did you said _she_?"

"Yes, I did," Urahara nodded. "She also helped me on the task of healing you," he flapped his fan close and pointed it at Ichigo, "Which I didn't succeed much. The gash was just a _little_ too deep, so I did all I can and bandaged you up. She was very worried about you, Kurosaki-san. I must say, you're quite a ladies man, aren't you?" he grinned.

"Urusse," Ichigo spat back.

"Ano... Urahara-san... Can I come in?" a shy voice asked from behind the shoji screen.

"Ah, yes! Of course you can! Suit yourself!" Urahara answered happily.

The shoji screen slide open slowly, as if hesitating. Ichigo gaped as he saw his _friend_ coming in. "You're..."

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"Ungh... Huh? Where am I?" Kuchiki Rukia woke up in a small cell. She looked around, asking herself where the hell she is. There's a small white couch on one side and she's sitting on a plain white bed across it. On her right was a door of bars and rectangular mirror was behind her. The cell was plain white and it reminded her of Hueco Mundo, which send an involuntary shiver down her spine.

She stood up and searched for a window. It wasn't hard at all, considering that the window was big and shone from the sunlight. She walked over to the said window and put both her hands on it, leaning forward slightly.

Outside was evening, the sun was setting as the moon rose up. Orange and purple sky blended together splendidly. She continued looking up at the sky until she realizes something. She couldn't see the ground. She crouched down and squinted her eyes, trying to make out the detail of the ground that seemed so far away from her. From what she could see, the ground was very swampy. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to get anymore detail of the ground from her cell, she slowly raised her gaze and locked it at a huge tree far, far away from her. Its many branches and leaves provides shade for those who need it. _'Which is who?'_ she added as an afterthought.

Rukia decided to lay down on the couch and think for awhile.

"_So_... How did I get here, again?" she whispered softly, lost in her own thoughts. "Ah!" she snapped her fingers without much success -she can never figure out how to snap- and looked down at her own fingers, annoyed that they didn't make any noise when they were suppose to. She shook her head a little and continued.

"Ah! The Brown-haired-chin-guy took me here! Hey, wait a minute!" she ran to the bars and grabbed two of them, shaking them in a violent manner, a move she learned from television and those crime movies. "Hey! Let me out of here! Oi! Brown-haired-chin-guy!"

"What is it?" the said Brown-hair-chin-guy replied lazily from the doorway. Rukia shifted her gaze to him and yelled, "Ah! You! Brown-haired-chin-guy! Let me out of here!"

The Brown-haired-chin-gu—ah! Let's jut call him Guy Y until we know his name, 'kay? So, Guy Y looked at her with stupefied expression. "Do you _really_ think that _that_ would work?" he asked in an incredulous tone.

Rukia nodded furiously. "It works on TV!" she exclaimed.

Guy Y raised an eyebrow at her. "What's a TV?"

"YOU DON'T _KNOW_ WHAT A TV _IS_??" Rukia hollered, a shocked expression plastered on her face.

"O-Of course I know what a TV is!" Guy Y stuttered, crossing his arms in an attempt to make him somewhat... _superior_.

"Well then, _what is it_?" she questioned, a smug smirk appearing slowly on her face.

"Ah! It's... uhm... Maa na! _Listen, _superi—wait, did you just called me 'Brown_-haired-chin-guy'_?"

Rukia nodded. "Yeah. What of it?"

"_Why_ did you call me _'Brown-haired-chin-guy'_? I mean, I get where the brown-haired and guy came from but _chin_??"

"_What_? You _seriously _haven't _noticed_?" Rukia asked.

"Noticed what?"

"Your chin, stupid!"

"What's wrong with my chin?"

Rukia sighed and took the mirror before shoving it right at his face. "Here. _Look_. Your _chin_."

Guy Y raised his eyebrow after turning his face in more than one way to get a different view from the mirror. His chin _is_ normal, if not slightly sharper than everyone else's. But in the eye of the _observant_ Rukia, that slight sharpness of his chin makes it look like it's as sharp as a stalactite.

"Well whatever. Back to the topic, I'm your superior, okay? So no smartass comment will be heard from that _witty_ mouth of yours. Got it?"

"Wha—Who the hell are _you_ to decide that you're my superior? Heck, _Ichigo_ would make a better superior than _you_. At least _he_ know what a TV is!"

"I _so_ know what a TV is! And you precious boyfriend--"

"He's not my boyfriend! God! Why does people keeps on assuming that he is?!" Rukia interrupted.

"Yeah, I could care less about that, but he's dead already! I killed him!"

Rukia stared blankly Guy Y. "What did you said, Brown-haired-chin-guy? Ichigo's _dead_? THE Kurosaki Ichigo is DEAD?" she said and then bursts out a loud guffaw. "Yeah, right! As if!"

"What the hell?! I killed him myself, idiot!"

"Did you see him die?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure? If you are, did you check for his breathing pulse?"

"Um... No..."

"Then for all I know, he's still alive then."

"How would _you_ know?!"

"I just...do," her expression softened.

"Fine, wanna make it into a bet, then?!"

"Huh? You're betting whether he's alive or not?" her soft expression changed.

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I bet he's dead, lying on the cold, hard asphalt, regretting his past mistakes and sins," Guy Y reached out his hand into Rukia's cell.

"You're on!" she took his hand and shook it.

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"You're..." Ichigo gawked. "Wait, who are you again?" he scratched the back of his head.

"Ara? Don't you know her, Kurosaki-san? She seems to know _you_," Urahara asked.

"I'm Sekai," Sekai a.k.a the girl who opened the shoji screen said, reaching out her hand. Ichigo reached out his hand slowly and shook hers cautiously.

"Uhm... No offence or anything, but do I know you?" Ichigo questioned as he pulled his hand back.

"Uhm... yes?" Sekai answered skeptically. Ichigo look was that of the bewildered ones. He eyed her suspiciously. She has a blond hair that passed her shoulders, side swept fringe and blue eyes with a hint o foggy grey. He could've sworn he never saw this girl before in his life.

"But, you probably know me as Sofia," Sekai continued.

"Sofia?!" he asked her in surprise. "You're not Sofia! You're Se...Se...kai? Yeah, that's it! Sekai and if you haven't noticed, you're not a _turtle_!!"

Sekai raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right! Well, I _have_ noticed that I'm not a turtle and yes, my name _is_ Sekai. Rukia-sama had somehow managed to change my name to Sofia. The things she can do..." she said with an awed expression.

"Well if you're _not_ a turtle, then you're _not_ Sofi—wait, can you morph into a human?"

"Yes. Yes I can."

Ichigo blinked. Twice. "So... you're actually a _turtle_..."

"No! That's not what I meant! I can morph into a _turtle_, this... is... my... true... form," Sekai explained in a relatively slow way so that Ichigo can understand.

Five seconds have passed.

"_Aaaah_... I see, now..." Ichigo nodded. "So you're like, another Yoruichi or something?"

Sekai shrugged. "Basically."

"So... are you a shinigami or something?"

"No..." Sekai bit her lip.

"Then... _what_ are you?"

Sekai glanced at Urahara, her blue-grey eyes flashing with worries. "Uhm, well... it's a long story, but I'll tell you..."

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"So... Where am I again?" Rukia asked as she lay down on the couch, her eyes fixed at the evening sky.

Guy Y sighed deeply. "_For the last time_, we are in La Infernal!"

"La Infernal?"

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"La Infernal?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes," Sekai answered. "It's a small place that Aizen created for his failure experiments. It is not a world, nor a planet. It's simply a _place_."

"And what do you have to do with this La Infernal?"

"I... well... I'm one of those experiments."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"They... I mean, the _others_ drained most of my powers when I objected their plan."

"Their plan?"

"Yes," Sekai nodded. "Their plan is..."

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"To squeeze the _what_ power from _who_??" Rukia yelled as she jumped to her feet.

"Sheesh, woman. Calm down," Guy Y plugged his ears with his index fingers.

Rukia inhaled deeply before exhaling. "So let me get this straight. You guys are called the _'las incógnitas'_ and you're going to experiment on whether _I _have any traces of the Hougyoku power and squeeze them out of my _soul_??"

Guy Y nodded.

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"_WHAT THE HELL_??" Ichigo shouted, standing up. "Like _hell_ I'm gonna let them!" he rushed to the shoji screen. Urahara quickly took his cane and hit Ichigo's stomach with it. The teen doubled over in pain and fell down on his behind.

"Now, now, Kurosaki-san. Don't be rash. This information is confidential. Not even the _Soul Society_ knows a thing about this," Urahara said in a serious tone as he set his cane down.

"Yes, Ichigo-san. You have to let your wound heal before saving Rukia-sama. You of all people knows that she's strong enough not to die in a few days of experiments. She'll think it's her fault if you died mid-way because of your wound, you know," Sekai said.

"_Stupid_ Rukia and her _stupid_ pride," Ichigo coughed out. Sekai's eyes glinted and she elbowed him on his side.

"Don't you _dare_ talk that way about Rukia-sama," she threatened.

"And speaking of prides, Kurosaki-san, don't _you_ have the same problem?" Urahara snickered behind his fan. Ichigo glared at him as he grimaced in pain, which triggered Urahara's all-too-famous laugh. "Ara, Ara! Don't glare at me as if I insulted your beloved Kuchiki-san!" he waved his fan up and down.

"Dammit! Shut up!" Ichigo yelled.

"Isn't it true though?" Sekai tilted her head to one side questioningly, a method which Ichigo remembered Sofia does.

"You people are impossible!" Ichigo stood up and walked out of the room.

"Kurosaki-san! Where are you going?" Urahara said in a sing-along tone.

"Toilet!" the carrot-top yelled from the hallway. The sound of his steps slowly faded.

"But Urahara-san, isn't the toilet _that_ way?" Sekai pointed her index finger at the opposite direction.

Urahara nodded happily. "And he didn't deny it!"

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**At Karakura High...**

"Ishida-kun," Orihime walked over to Ishida's desk. The said guy fixed his glasses position and looked up from the book he was reading. "Yes, Inoue-san?" he replied.

"Ano... Did you noticed a weird reiatsu just before the school started?" Orihime asked, her index finger nervously twirling a lock of her warm orange hair.

"Yes, I did," Ishida nodded and put down the book he was reading. The title says: _How to Shut Up a Stuffed Lion While You Put It In an Elegant Dress_. "And don't you think it's strange that Kurosaki and Kuchiki-san isn't here yet? They missed three whole periods. Besides, when the first period started, I thought I couldn't detect his reiatsu."

"Are you guys discussing about the strange reiatsu this morning?" Sado came from behind and joined the conversation.

"Yeah, Ishida-kun just told me about how he can barely felt Kurosaki-kun's reiatsu," Orihime informed the Mexican teen. He nodded as a gesture of understanding.

"But now that I think about it, I can't feel Kuchiki-san's reiatsu at _all_," Ishida rested his chin on his palm.

"It's weird, isn't it? This is _just_ like when Kuchiki-san went to the Sou--" Orihime froze in the middle of her sentence, realizing what she had just said. She quickly looked at Ishida and Sado, whom both had the exact same expression as her. _'It _is_ happening again!'_ they all thought. Quickly, Ishida stood up and grabbed his book along with his bag.

"Ishida-kun? Where are you going?" Orihime asked.

"To Urahara-san's shop. He must know something about all this and I'm pretty sure that Kurosaki is there," Ishida answered.

"Ah..." Orihime ran over to her desk and grabbed her bag quickly. "Where's Sado-kun?" she asked Ishida.

"Are you guys coming?" Sado asked from the front door, his bag in his clutch.

"Un!" Orihime answered for both herself and Ishida. The three quickly dashed out of the classroom, hoping that they would make it out of school before recess is over.

"Hime-chan? Don't go! I'll come with yo—oomph!" Tatsuki interrupted Chizuru, who almost chased after Orihime.

"Don't go after her, dammit! If she wants us to come, she would've asked us herself! I'm sure she has her reason and I _don't_ want you to stalk her like a stalker you are!" Tatsuki punched her red-headed friend. "I'm sure that those two would protect her. They better..."

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**At Urahara's Shop...**

"What are you three doing here?" Ginta asked the three panting teen in front of the shop. He swung his broom to his shoulder and called, "Oi, Tessai! I think someone is here to meet the manager!"

Tessai slide the door open. "Hmm? Aren't you Kuchiki-dono's friends? Come in! Come in! Kurosaki-dono has arrived earlier and is having a discussion with the manager and Sekai-dono inside. Here, I'll guide you there," Tessai went back inside with the three fifteen-year-olds following him. They looked around as they walked through the hallways. They stopped as Tessai raised a hand to their face. "We're here," he said.

The three looked to their right and found themselves in front of a shoji door and they all could hear some snickers and yells from the inside. Tessai knocked on the door softly.

"Come in!" Urahara's voice said from behind the shoji door, followed by a yell and some snickering. Tessai slid the door open and gestured the three to get in. After they did, Tessai slid the screen close and went back to his job.

"_Why_ didn't you tell me that I was going to the crocodile pit instead of the toilet?? And just _how _did you manage to get all those crocodiles in the first place?! They almost freakin' chopped my head off!!" Ichigo yelled, obviously irritated that Urahara didn't warn him about the crocodile pit. "Guh!" he grasped his stomach moments later, feeling the pain from the gash.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime gasped. "Are you okay?"

"Inoue! Since when were you here?" Ichigo asked, still clutching the shirt which is now bloodied up from the blood coming out from his opened gash. "Ishida! Chad! You're all here? I mean—How did you get those damned crocodiles anyway?!"he turned his attention back to the grinning shop keeper.

"That's classified information, Kurosaki-san. You were too busy being angry to hear my warnings!" Urahara said happily. _'Not that I gave him any,' _ he added as an afterthought.

"Angry? Why was he angry?" Orihime asked.

"Ah... We just teased him about his beloved Rukia-sa-" Sekai answered but was interrupted.

"I WASN'T ANGRY DAMMIT!!" Ichigo roared.

"Ah... So then you admitted that Kuchiki-san is _yours_, then?" Urahara teased.

"GAH!" Ichigo went beet red and turned around with a 'hmph'.

"Um... Do we know you?" Ishida stepped forward and asked Sekai.

"Oh, I'm/she's Sekai/Sofia," Sekai and Ichigo said at the same time.

"Okay..." Ishida blinked twice, trying to recall what her name is.

"Hajimemashite, Sephia-chan! I'm Orihime! Inoue Orihime!" Orihime reached out her hand to the blond girl.

"Sephia?" Sekai took her hand and shook it.

"Yep! And I'm Orihime!" Orihime replied brightly, pointing at herself.

"Ah... Yorishiku onegaishimasu, Sephia-san," Ishida nodded at Sekai. "I'm Ishida. Ishida Uryu."

"Eh?" Sekai turned her gaze to the guy with the glasses.

"Hey, Sephia-san. I'm Sado. Sado Yasutora," Sado said in his signature low tone.

"Eh?" Sekai turned her head to the tough looking guy. Ichigo slapped his forehead as Urahara laughed behind his glorious fan.

(For those who don't understand why they called her Sephia, it's because if you combined Sekai and Sofia, you get Sefia. I just wanted to spell it Sephia 'cause it looks cooler XD)

"Ano... Kurosaki-kun, where's Kuchiki-san?" Orihime asked out of the blue. The whole room went silent. Ichigo avoid meeting anyone's eyes while Sekai and Urahara glanced at each other.

"She had been...abducted," Ichigo mumbled, still looking away. Orihime gasped as Sado and Ishida's face turne serious.

"When? By who? Why? How?" Orihime blurted out a series of question.

"A-Ah! I'll explain it to you!" Sekai cut in. "Uh... It was in the morning, she was abducted by one of the las incógnitas for some experiment and..." she drifted off.

"And?"

"I let him took her away..."Ichigo whispered softly but everyone heard him clearly.

"Oh..." Orihime bit her lip. She probably shouldn't have asked. Tension lingered in the air.

"A-Ah! But isn't there a way to safe her?" Orihime asked.

"_Is_ there a way, Urahara-san?" Ishida asked.

"Well," Urahara sighed. "All we know is that she had been taken to La Infernal to be experimented on Hougyoku. I'm sorry to say, but I have no idea on how to get there."

"Ah... I see..." Ishida fixed his glasses position. The tension lingered once again.

"A...Ano..." Sekai spoke up. Everyone turned and looked at her. "I don't have much power left but... I can at least open the gate there."

The tension immediately left. "Really Sephia-chan? That would be wonderful!" Orihime smiled as she clasped her hands together.

"But it's risky though..." Sekai warned.

"I don't care. I'm going. _I_'m the one who let her go and I'll get her back even if it means dying," Ichigo stood up.

"I'm going, too," Ishida said.

"Same here," Sado agreed.

"Ah! Me too!" Orihime chimed in. "But, can I please heal your wound before we go, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Sure," Ichigo replied.

"Shun'o! Ayame! Soten Kesshun! I reject!" she commanded two of her Shun Shun Rikka. The said two flowers formed an orange barrier that glowed warmly around Ichigo. He let out a sigh of relieve as he felt his wound dissappeared.

"Ano... It will probably take me about two hours to gather all of my power before I can fully open the gate," Sekai explained. "And I probably won't be able to fight alongside you all. I'm sorry," she casted her gaze downwards.

"It's okay, Sephia-san. You did all you can for us," Ishida said.

"Yes, Sephia-chan! So wait for us to come back, ne?" Orihime smiled sweetly at her. She nodded.

"Now then... What to do in those two hours..." Ichigo said as Orihime stopped her Soten Kesshun.

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"Kuchiki-taichou! Sorry I'm late!" Abarai Renji bursts into the main office of the 6th division panting, small droplets of sweat running down his forehead.

"Abarai fuku-taichou," Kuchiki Byakuya nodded slightly in acknowledgment. The red-haired shinigami sat on one of the chairs Byakuya had prepared in front of his desk.

"I have an objective for you, Renji," the noble said as he shuffled tthrough some papers.

"Yes, Kuchiki-taichou?" Renji inquired.

"I want you to go to the real world and check on Rukia," Byakuya set the papers on his desk neatly. "I've taken care of all the business and I will attend the meetings you have to attend to while you're in the living world. You can go now, the Senkaimon is already prepared."

"Ah, Ha-Hai!" Renji bowed and walked out of the room. He shunpo-ed his way to the Senkaimon gate as he checked his waist for Zabimaru. He couldn't help but wished but his captain would just loosen up. He mean, it's fine to worry about your sister once in a while, right? He stopped in front of the gate, nodded at the guards and stepped into the Senkaimon with a hell butterfly guiding him.

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	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **I don't own BLEACH.

**A/N: **Hi! Sorry for the late update, my computer had been going cuc-koo lately. So yeah, I'm going to have a competition this Sunday, so... wish me luck everyone!

Thanks to **auburn-haired-sadist-XD**, **anonymous, Sierra77, anonymous2 (Julia), **and **anonymous3 (Sofia) **for reviewing!

**auburn-haired-sadist-XD: **Of course Byakushii does! He have what we called, 'the sixth sense'. Ooh... creepy... XD Whee for Guy Y!!

**anonymous: **Well, his nickname came when I was trying to figure out what rhymes with guy, and the letter y popped out! So, _that_'s where it came from. Sephia called Rukia that because Rukia is technically her master/owner when she was a turtle and for her it just seems appropriate. Really? What _was_ your expectations? o.O No problem on the info. Sorry I don't know much...

**Sierra77: **Yay on the Sofia/Sekai twist! WOOH! Oh yes, I had fun with this chapter. Maybe _too _much fun, but it doesn't matter... XP

**anonymous2 (Julia): **I know, I know. But I'm trying my best to improve my grammar! I hope I am... :0

**anonymous3 (Sofia): **Yes. We are _all_ wondering why you like the Sofia/Sekai/Sephia XP I have about 111? Maybe?

I'm sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Enjoy!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Fourteen_

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"Everyone! It's break time!" Orihime called out, cupping her hands around her mouth.

The three boys stopped what they were doing and looked at the auburn haired girl, who is now waving her arms in the air, trying to get their attention. They looked at each other before walking towards the happy girl. The had been training for quite a while now, since they had to do _something_ in the two hours Sekai needed to gather her powers.

"Ta-Da! I made you all some snacks!" Orihime made a _PAM! _motion with her hands and showed them a plate of neatly cut triangle sandwiches with some random green goo oozing out for the sides, a bowl of seaweed chips with maple syrup spread over it, a big bowl of miso soup with taiyaki floating calmly in the centre and much more weird concoctions. Sado didn't say a word as Ichigo gulped and Ishida fixed his glasses position, trying hard to refrain himself from barfing.

"Oh! And Sephia-chan also made something for you!" Orihime pointed to a light blue plate which stood up in the crowd of plates, since it _was_ the only plate that is away from Orihime's cooking. Settling on it is a bunch of perfectly made swiss rolls. The three boys' eyes lightened up as they saw the delicious looking swiss rolls. They hurried their way to the light blue plate, took one each and munched on it happily.

Orihime pouted. "Mou... No one likes my cooking..."

Ishida heard her sentence and quickly said, "T-That's not true, Inoue-san! _I_ like your cookings! See?" He took one of the green goo oozing triangle sandwiches and ate it, suppressing a shiver coming down his spine. Ichigo and Sado sweat dropped as they pretended that they didn't hear anything and continued on munching the swiss roll.

"Ah... Enjoying ourselves, aren't we?" Urahara came up to them and _immediately_ felt sorry for the now-green-faced Quincy that was trying to swallow hard Orihime's infamous cooking. The said girl was clapping and cheering on him to swallow it.

Urahara glanced at the other two who bailed the poor Quincy. The said other two caught the glance and looked away, trying to ignore the look Urahara was giving them as cold sweat ran down their heads profusely. He sighed and was about to lecture them before something or some_one_ interrupted him.

"Oi! Urahara-san! Hisashiburi!" Renji howled as he ran from the closing Senkaimon to the green-clothed man.

"Renji! What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked with his mouth full when he noticed the red-head's presence.

"Ah... The usual. You know, Kuchiki-taichou wanted me to check on Rukia," Renji explained. "By the way, where is she? Didn't see her with you guys," he looked around.

Ichigo casted his gaze downwards. "She..." he grimaced as he explained the las incógnitas, la infernal and Rukia's position. Renji's eyes grew wider at every word. He couldn't hold it in anymore and pulled Ichigo's robe collar and him close to himself.

"HOW COULOD YO LET THIS HAPPEN?! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSE TO PROTECT HER?!" Renji drew his free hand back and swung it towards Ichigo's cheek, but was stopped by Sado's hand.

"Don't," the Mexican teen said as he slowly loosened his grasp ob Renji's fist. The red-head took a deep breath and let it all out as he begrudgingly released Ichigo's robe collar.

"I swear I'll get her back, Renji. No matter what," Ichigo said in a voice so low that only Renji –who had his face relatively 40 centimetres from Ichigo's– were able to hear it. The 6th division fuku-taichou sighed and put his hand on the carrot-top's shoulder.

"Sorry man," he said, "It's all just kinda... fast for me."

"Where are you? Guys? Where are—oh, there you guys are!" Sekai ran towards the group of people smiling brightly. "I'm ready to open the gate! Are you?"

Orihime, Sado and Ishida nodded as Renji's hand fell down to his side limply. He raised his... _interesting_ looking eyebrow at her.

"Who're you?" he asked.

"Ah! I'm--"

"Allow _me_ to explain," Orihime took charge. "She is Sephia-chan, the exiled member of las incógnitas, and she is here to open the gate to la infernal, where Kuchiki-san is being held captive," she said as Ishida and Sado nodded along in approval.

"Ah..." Renji's face lightened in understanding, then he reached his hand out to the blond girl, who had manage to get her name somehow twisted around, _again_. "Nice to meet 'cha, Sephia!" he grinned. Ichigo sighed as Sekai shook his hand.

"Anyways, I need a large space to open the gate," Sekai pulled back her hand and jogged to the large field Urahara used to train Ichigo at. The others followed her obediently without a single word uttered from their mouth. She took a deep breath and gathered all of her reiatsu to her right hand, which she raised up.

"Eyes of a hawk, pierced through the thousands sparks of fire. In the midst of it all, he who hold the utmost strength, deep as a cave, hot as the Sun. Show yourself!" Sekai commanded, her voice firm and unwavering as a hard gust of wind blew.

All of the sudden, a black wooden door appeared before her. But this time, replacing the puzzle, a mirror hang proudly on the centre. You can't really call it a mirror, since it really _was_ just a piece of glass. It sure does resembles a mirror, only, it doesn't reflect any living soul bestow upon it. Sekai raised an eyebrow. "This is weird," she said, trying to figure out whatever the hell is its function.

Renji approached it cautiously and slowly raised a fist. Gulping, he knocked it twice, expecting a face coming out of it or something.

Five seconds past by, and nothing happened.

"Oi, Renji! What are you standing over there for? Waiting for a face coming out of it or something?" Ichigo asked from the crowd of spiritually aware people.

"Uhm... No...?" Renji answered doubtfully.

"'Kay. Get your lazy ass back here, then!" Ichigo ordered.

Renji glared at his orange-haired '_friend_' and stole a glance at the mirror, trying to spot any change.

It has none.

He sighed deeply and went back to his rightful place.

"All right, move aside, let me handle this!" Ichigo stepped out of the bunch and worked his way towards the unreflective mirror. His infamous scowl deepened as he inspected the rectangular piece of glass before him. He quickly knocked twice on it and waited for another five seconds.

"Oh yeah. _Real smart_, _Ichigo_. That technique is _sooo_ _original_," Renji rolled his eyes after five seconds have passed.

Ichigo felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Whatever! You!" he pointed accusingly to the mirror, "You _better_ show up some changes _or else_!" he threatened.

Insert cricket sound effects here.

No changes whatsoever.

"You're wrong, Kurosaki-kun! You're supposed to treat people kindly, so they'll treat you kindly back!" Orihime chirped as Ichigo made his way back into the crowd. Seeing as no one is confronting the mirror, she stepped forward and decided to give it a try.

"Mirror-san! Please answer us and show yourself!" she asked nicely.

_Another_ five seconds passed with no improvement.

"Ano, Inoue-san? I don't think your proposal is working. May I try?" Ishida asked.

"And I was _so sure_ it would've work," Orihime pouted and went back to the bunch.

Ishida carefully made his was to the mirror and observed it thoroughly. _'Hmm... It's not the average mirror. It's probably made in La Infernal, using--'_

"Are you gonna do something or what?" the shinigami representative yelled out.

"Be quiet, Kurosaki!" Ishida yelled back. He frowned as he touched the mirror and started moving his fingers, trying to draw some kind of invisible diagram. Everyone else watched intently as the last Quincy finished his drawing.

And again, another five seconds passed by with no change happening.

Ishida blushed in embarrassment as he grumbled his way back into the crowd.

"Oh! _Now_, I remember--" Sekai snapped her fingers but was cut off.

"Well, Chad? Give it a try. You're the only one who haven't try it yet," Ichigo said. The taller teen simply nodded and made his way to the disobedient mirror. They waited for another five seconds. _Again_, nothing happened.

"Ano... Sado-kun? It doesn't matter, we all failed any--" Orihime said but was interrupted by a nod and a 'Hmm...' from Sado. The others looked shocked. Then Sado nodded again. The others felt their eyes bulging out in disbelief. But then Sado shook his head and went back into the crowd.

"Sado-san! You can speak _Silenese_?!" Sekai asked in awe. Sado looked at her with an all-knowing gaze and Sekai gasped. The other four people blinked. They had absolutely _no idea_ what the two are going on about! But then, Ishida spoke, "So... Sado-kun, using your... _Silenese_... what did you figure out?"

Sado looked at the glasses boy with another all-knowing look. Ishida gasped in terror.

"They wouldn't!" he said.

Sekai looked intrigued. "Ishida-san, you can speak Silenese, _too_??"

Ishida nodded slowly. "_Now_ I think I can."

The other... _less sharp_... three looked at them with such interests. _'What are they talking about_?' they all thought in unison.

"Ah, I'm sorry! You guys probably have no idea what's going on," Sekai said. "I'll handle this," she said reassuringly to the two teen who apparently can speak Silenese and they nodded at her in appreciation.

Facing the mirror, Sekai braced herself. She breathed deeply and then sang, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" with an additional dancing and prancing in between. Ishida and Sado sighed in relieve.

Orihime clasped her hands together and "Ooh!"-ed at the prancing Sekai when Renji's and Ichigo's jaw dropped to the ground. For some reason, the image of Sado and Ishida wearing a pink tutu and doing a pas de deux is flashing through their heads. So _this_ is what they were supposed to do _all along_??

"Ah! The _images_! The _mental images_!" Ichigo screamed, holding his head in agony.

"My eyes! My brain! It _burns_! It _burns_, _I say_!" Renji held his head upwards and covered his face with his hands hysterically.

"Is my dancing really all _that_ bad?" Sekai asked after she finished her prancing, eyebrow raised, hands on her hip.

"I love it, Sephia-chan!" Orihime bursts into a loud applause. Ishida and Sado sweat dropped as they watched the scene from far away.

"Who dare disturbs me from my great sleep?" a face appeared in the mirror.

"Un!" Sekai turned and faced the the face. She bowed low and said, "It is I."

The face stared at her, then at the clapping girl, then at the screaming shinigamis and it sweat dropped along with Ishida and Sado.

"Yes, but one who is sworn to be exiled from La Infernal for eternity, shall not pass, for I, forbid you," It said.

"You are right, O' Great One. But I am here _not_ to enter the la infernal, just to simply wake you up," Sekai answered as she rose up from her deep bow.

"Then why, must I ask, did you wake me up?"

"They," Sekai gestured to the other five beings, "Wish to go to La Infernal to save their friend."

"And who is the friend in question?"

"My master, Kuchiki Rukia-sama."

"Ah... her. I remember her. I am most certain that her first experiment will begin in approximately fifteen minutes from now."

"WHAT?!" Ichigo and Renji interrupted the conversation. The face glanced at the other five and noticed that they had all gather around it, forming a semi-circle. "Let us in, then!" Renji yelled.

"I cannot do that unless you answered my question," it replied in a stoic tone.

"What is the question, Mirror-san?" Orihime asked, her face swarming with worries.

"The question is," It paused, looking slightly baffled at the six who is leaning forward eagerly, but continued on, "What is the golden rule that applies to all mankind?"

The five thought for a _very _long time.

"I got it!" Ichigo snapped his fingers. "It's _'If you're in trouble, run and never come back, because it will go away eventually'_!"

"Sugoi, Kurosaki-kun! But it's _'Put bean paste in your every foods'_!" Orihime corrected.

"That's not it, Inoue-san. It's _'Knowledge is powuuuh!'_ ahem... I mean, _'Knowledge is power'_," Ishida corrected himself.

"You're wrong, glasses! It's obviously _'If you have a baboon, never let it listen to a snake'_!" Renji exclaimed.

"..." Sado keep quiet and Sekai slapped her forehead.

"NO! THAT'S NOT IT YOU DUMB BUTTS!!" the face yelled out in frustration.

"Oh... It's not?" came Ichigo's reply.

"It's _'Treat others the way you want to be treated'_," Sekai sighed. "Jeebus, don't you guys know _anything_? You came pretty close though, Ishida-san."

Ishida smirked jubilantly to the two shinigamis, who is grumbling in response. _'Ha! _This_'ll show you shinigamis that Quincies are superior!' _he thought.

"I shall let you pass," the face stated and the door opened.

"Okay guys, this is all I can do. Good luck," Sekai waved goodbye as the five stepped through the door. Orihime raised a hand to shield her eyes from the blinding light. She shut her eyes when it got even brighter and clung to someone's arm as a guide. The light finally dies out and she opened her eyes slowly.

"Ah! Go-Gomenasai, Ishida-kun! I didn't realize that I was..." Orihime released her grip on Ishida's arm.

"It doesn't matter, Inoue-san. You're okay though, right?" Ishida smiled lightly at her.

Orihime raised an eyebrow. _'Why is his cheeks pink?' _she thought but then she figured it out.

Well, at least she _thought_ she did.

"Ishida-kun, are you cold?" she asked.

"N-No! I'm fine! Don't worry about me," Ishida stuttered, his cheeks reddened.

"Ah! Are you sure, Ishida-kun?" Orihime shook his arms. He felt his head spin round and round and what stopped it from going on its third roundabout trip was the snickers coming from the two shinigamis. He turned his head at them and saw the biggest chesire cat grin completely attached to their faces. Ichigo nudged Sado and pointed at the blushing Quincy and the worried owner of Shun Shun Rikka. Sado smirked as Ishida felt completely betrayed.

"Mou, Ishida-kun!" Orihime grabbed both of his cheeks and turned his head to he. "Are you okay?" she asked. Ishida fainted upon realizing that there were only five inches between their noses. "Ah! Ishida-kun! Are you dead? Ishida-kun!"

The shinigamis guffawed so hard that they could've sworn they died and some back as the shinigami's shinigami. Sado chuckled, grabbed Ishida and threw him on his shoulder. "He's fine, Inoue-san," he explained.

"Good," Orihime sighed in relieve.

"Hahahaha... That was a good laugh," Ichigo stopped guffawing.

"Haha... Yeah... It sure was..." Renji wiped a tear at the corner of his eye.

"Anyways, where are we? Are we in La Infernal already?" Ichigo looked around. They were in a small chamber which is dimly lit by a candle in each corner. He looked up and froze upon what he was seeing.

_Stairs_. It went on and on, so high up you can't even see the ceiling of the chamber. Ichigo gulped and said, "Prepare for hell of a lot climbing, guys."

"Huh?" Renji looked up. "oh God no..."

"There's no other way, Renji," he patted his red-haired nakama's shoulder understandingly. "Yosh! Let's go!"

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"Let me go! I don't _have_ any Hougyoku powers!" Rukia struggled to get free from Guy Y's grasp.

"We don't know until we try, right? Just making sure..." Guy Y tightened his grip on her wrists and dragged her to La Infernal Laboratory. He stopped in front of the double door and knocked five time in a certain rhythm.

"He's here with the test subject!" came a voice from behind the door. "Descripción, Abrumadora, open the door!"

The double door opened with a slight creak and Guy Y stepped in. He threw Rukia down to the floor, who responded with a low grunt. The said shinigami is _still_ in her gigai, even though her clothes looked worn out and dirty. She quickly stood up and moved to a certain stance, both hands ready to whack the living daylight out of someone.

"What do you want?!" Rukia demanded. "I don't have any Hougyoku power inside of me in the first place!"

One of the Las Incógnitas grinned. He has blond hair that was combed neatly into places. He was wearing the same robe as Guy Y, except that his sleeve are shorter. His hands are covered in a pair of black gloves that seemed to be glued firmly to his skin. He gave off this eerie feeling to everyone around him. I guess you could say that he's Mayuri Kurotsuchi of La Infernal. Okay, maybe he's a _little_ bit more good-looking. _Maybe_.

"Hello," he greeted, his creepy smile didn't leave his face for a second. "I'm Conocimiento. Nice to meet you," he reached his glove-covered hand out. Rukia gave him an icy glare in return before attempting to kick his hand, but failed. He pulled back his hands quicker than she thought he would.

"My, my," he said. "How feisty," his smile changed into a grin.

Rukia grimaced as she kicked Conocimiento's gut and elbowed Guy Y's chin behind her. The two looked somewhat startled, but that look was quickly replaced by a smirk.

"Abrumadora, please release _it_ for our little guest," Conocimiento ordered.

"Hai, Conocimiento-sama!" the guy Rukia assumed was Abrumadora pressed a big red button (it's _always_ the big red button, right? XP) on the wall and in an instant, a black smoke came out of all side of the walls with a _**WHOOM!**_

Rukia covered her nose and mouth with one hand, the other one is for defending herself. She started coughing profusely ten seconds later and felt that her lungs are closing up. She fell down to her knees and blacked out.

"Now then, shall we start the experiment?"

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**A/N: **Yeah... So how was it? The name of the Las Incógnitas are chosen randomly by one of my friends, I can't tell you her name because I have no permission over it. Sorry...

Wish me luck for my Sunday competition (It's just a random Wii Sport competition, but I can get prizes if I win!)!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: **I don't own BLEACH and/or its awesomeness.

**A/N: **Hi, sorry I'm late. I DO have an excuse though, I hope you won't find it lame... Well, school starts and I'm getting busy with new students and all the confusing subjects. And then, I also had the flag hoisting thingy for Indonesia Independence Day. Yeps, it was Indonesia Independence Day on the 17th of August. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, INDONESIA! The training took ages. Then, there's the whole ordeal with IchiHime. Wherever I go, be it bleach asylum or bleach forum or etc., I always ended up reading some IchiHime comments. And now, I'm kind of surprised that I haven't turn this story 180 degree and turns it into an IchiHime fanfic. But don't worry, all of the people that's patiently reading this, it will NEVER happen. I still love IchiRuki and IshiHime more than IchiHime. So yeah... Sorry for the long A/N!

Thanks to **auburn-haired-sadist-XD**, **Ericd** and **anonymous** for reviewing. It was very much appreciated! And I hope you don't mind that I answered your review via reply URL thingy... But I will STILL answer the anonymous one on my chapter!

To **anonymous**: I'm glad you found the mirror hilarious. I had a lot of fun writing it, too.

Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes! Enjoy!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Fifteen_

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"Huff... huff... huff... How... much... more... huff... do we... huff... to climb?" Renji asked between his huffs and puffs.

"Just a little... huff... more... huff...," Ichigo answered. They all – except the unconscious Ishida – had been walking up the freakishly long stairs for TWO LONG HOURS non-stop. Even _Sado_ looked out of breath.

"Huh—wha? Where am I?" Ishida woke up from his state of unconsciousness and fixed his glasses position. "Please put me down, Sado-kun," he requested after quickly processing his situation.

"Hm," Sado answered and let Ishida stand up on his own. The said bespectacled boy looked around, his glasses glinting as he does so. He then looked around and observed the many stairs his friends had just walked past. Then, he turned his attention to the two panting shinigamis and asked, "Did you just walked _all_ the way from down _there_?"

"What does it looks like, _mastermind_?" Ichigo asked back in an aggravated tone while wiping his forehead with his black kimono sleeve.

Ishida ignored his sarcastic comment and asked again, "Couldn't you just Sado-kun and Inoue-san and shunpo-ed up?"

The shinigamis pause for a second. Renji opened his mouth, but he close it back due to his inability to give back smart comeback. He can't just say that the idea never passed his thoughts. It will be embarrassing.

"W-Well, maybe if you weren't being a dead weight we would've!" Ichigo retorted.

"Y-Yeah!" Renji backed him up.

"Wha--?! I was _not _being a dead weight!" Ishida defended himself.

"Oh _really_?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Oi, Renji!"

"Yeah?" Renji answered.

Ichigo grabbed the fukutaichou's face and mimicked, "Mou, Ishida-kun! Are you okay?"

Renji immediately catches the drift and went, "Oh noes! The beautiful Inoue-san is a girl! A girl had touch my face! My precious, _precious_ face! I feel so _violated_! _Ah_...," he drifted off as he raised the back of his hand to his forehead and pretended fainting. Moments later, he and Ichigo grinned simultaneously at the blushing Ishida.

"I _so_ didn't say that!" the Quincy fixed his glasses position and crossed his arms before turning away.

"Yeah, yeah. And the oceans are blue because they reflects the sky," Renji rolled his eyes, waving his hand up and down.

"They are!" Ishida turned back.

"So? Big whoop. Oi, Renji, lets follow the _'smart guy's _advice and shunpo up. Help me carry Chad, will ya?" Ichigo grabbed Sado's right arm.

"Yeah, sure," Renji answered as he grabbed Sado's left arm.

"What about me?" the clueless-about-the-last-_situation_-Orihime raised her arm in the air.

"Ah... we're sorry, Inoue. I guess you just have to ask Ishida to carry you, _yes_?" Ichigo gave her a fake apologetic look – which she believed all the way – and he felt so damn proud of himself having _such_ a restrain _not_ to break up into a full big grin and doing a little victory dance along with Renji. Renji nodded to Orihime vigorously, supporting Ichigo's act thoroughly. Ishida's jaw dropped to the ground with a heavy bang.

"Oh, okay!" Orihime chirped happily. "You don't mind, do you, Ishida-kun?"

"Ah! No! Of course not!" Ishida fumbled with words as he tried to answer the beautiful girl in front of him.

"Great then!" Orihime smiled.

"Ah... How chivalrous of you, Ishida," Ichigo gave up and his mouth quickly formed a full grown grin. "Well then! See you guys up there! Let's go, Renji!"

The two shinigamis shunpo-ed off, bringing Sado along with them. Awkward silence filled the air as the instant they went.

"Uhm... so... should I... pull you by your arm?" Ishida cursed as he found himself staggering with words again, when he was trying his best to look... what was the word again? Oh yeah, _smart_, in front of the girl he admires.

"_Heh heh heh... Look at him, Renji. The guy's _blushing_,"_ a mental image of Ichigo appeared in Ishida's head.

"_The guy can't be a guy in front of Inoue-san, after all,"_ then a mental image of Renji appeared after Ichigo.

"_What_?" Ishida asked himself.

The mental image of Ichigo and Renji grinned grimly. _"Haha... Haha... Haha..." _they chanted.

"Stop it... _Stop it_... I _said_, STOP IT!" Ishida held his head and shook it to the sides like he's holding on for dear life. He thought he looked pretty stupid right now.

Yes. Yes, he looked stupid indeed.

"Ishida-kun, are you _sure_ you're okay?" Orihime asked, worries starting to form clearly on her face.

Ishida snapped out of his reverie and quickly noticed the girl beside him. "Yes, Inoue-san!" he exclaimed, probably with a much louder voice than it suppose to be, "I'm fine! Now, shall we go up?"

"Okay!"

Ishida gently grabbed Orihime's arm and hirenkyaku-ed after the other three spritually aware people.

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Rukia woke up to the slight rustle behind her. She didn't have the energy to open _both_ eyelids, so instead, she opened one. She turned her head from one side to the other lazily, adjusting her eye to the dimly lit cell.

_'Wait, I'm back in my cell?'_ she opened her other eyelid and sat up quickly before laying back down because of a nauseating feeling in her stomach.

"You're up already?"

Rukia lazily tilted her head upwards so she could see who is outside her cell. Upside-down, of course, but it didn't matter to her. Guy Y stood just outside her cell, arms crossed, leaning against one of the cell's bars.

Rukia sat up with much effort and groaned as she put her hand on her head. She massaged it lightly, fearing that she might have a migraine or something.

"Oi. I'm asking you a question. _Hello..._?"

"Yes, I'm up already. Can't you see that? Ugh... me head..." Rukia massaged her said head slightly harder.

"That was fast."

"What was?"

"Your sleeping."

"Really? How would you know? There's no clock in here."

"I know it from the sky outside," Guy Y jerked his thumb at the big window.

Rukia raised a delicate eyebrow and glanced over her shoulder to the said glass window, but the view is still the same. The same orange and purple sky, blending majestically together.

"Whatever," Rukia turned her attention back to the 'experiment' outside her cell. "Is the experiment over yet?"

"Yeah."

"..._and_?"

"You have it."

"Huh?"

"Are you slow, woman? I _said_ you have the Hougyoku power inside you. A little bit, but it's from Hougyoku, nonetheless," Guy Y turned around and directed his full attention to Rukia.

"And you're going to extract that out of me?"

Guy Y nodded. "Along with your reiatsu."

"What?! Why?! Can't you just somehow extract them without taking an ounce of my reiatsu?!" Rukia stood up and felt the wave of nausea shot up her stomach, but decided to stand her ground.

"We _can't_. That power had completely merged with your reiatsu. In order to be able to take it out, we must take your reiatsu as well."

"Hold on a second. It _merged_ with my reiatsu?"

"_Yes, woman_! God! Just how small _is _your brain!" Guy Y threw his arms up in frustration.

Rukia put her hand to her chin and thought for awhile. "So... what you're saying is... I can _use _the Hougyoku power?"

"I'm pretty sure about that... But I highly doubt that you'll be able to use it, seeing as you didn't answer to my comment about your brain, I will have to assume that you're an idiot of a shinigami."

Rukia glared at him. "I _do_ have a brain, and it is _not _small!" she pointed her index finger accusingly at Guy Y. "Wait a minute! Just what the _hell_ am I _wearing_?!" she went to the mirror after she realized that she was no longer in her gigai nor her shinigami outfit.

"Our uniform. You wouldn't like to feel left out now, would ya?" Guy Y grinned proudly. After all, it _was_ his idea.

Rukia's eyes widened as she saw her reflection on the rectangular mirror. Yep, Guy Y is right. She's wearing a white shirt with a ¾ O shape in the middle of the collar. She was using a white no-finger glove and her white skirt _fluttered_ as she turns to her sides to double-check. Then, she let out a scream full of agony.

"Shut up, will ya? Sheesh... You women and your fashion senses..." Guy Y grumbled.

"Who changed me?" Rukia asked as she turned back to the las incógnita.

"I did, of course."

_**SMACK!**_

"Pervert!" she yelled after reaching out her hand from the gap of the black bars and smacked Guy Y across the face.

"Ouch..." Guy Y rubbed his cheek, which throbbed like _hell_. This woman _sure_ know how to whack. "I was _kidding_, don't 'cha know?"

"Oh..." Rukia let her hand dropped back to her side. "You were?"

"Small brained woman."

_That_ earned him another smack across the head.

"_Fine_ then. Small brained _midget_."

"You just don't learn, do you?"

"Not from a small brained midget like you."

"Why you--" Rukia froze. She quickly ran over to the big window and peered through the crystal clear glass. She squinted her eyes at the giant tree which seemed so far away, but it didn't help. So, she closed her eyes and tried to detect any familiar reiatsu that froze her before.

_'Found them!'_ her eyes snapped open when she felt five familiar reiatsu from the huge tree. She felt it briefly, but it was enough to make her smile. A _genuine_ one, at that.

"--and _that_'s why women like you are called—hey, are you even _listening_?" Guy Y cut off his own rant with a question. With a smile still on her face, she turned aroung and walked over to Guy Y.

"_What_ are you _smiling_ for? Is my chin _really_ all that funny?"

Rukia shook her head to the sides, her smile changing into a jubilant smirk. "No."

"They _why_ were you smiling?"

_'Because I'm winning our little bet,'_ she answered inside her head.

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"Whoah... Who would've thought that all those stairs would end up with _another_ door?" Ichigo rhetorically asked as he walked through the double door that he had previously pushed.

"Anyone would, Kurosaki," Ishida fixed his glasses position. "Are you _really_ all that moronic?"

"What? You're still pissed about the shunpo-with-who thing? Man, you _sure _hold grudges..." Ichigo sighed.

"Oosh! We're here!" Orihime skipped out of the door happily. "Huwaa! Look at all the trees!" she clasped her hands together in front of her chest.

"Only _fools_ hold grudges," Ishida crossed his arms.

"And you're not denying it?" Renji asked.

"No! I mean, yes! Yes, I am!"

"You're admitting that you're a fool?"

"No! No!"

"Yes. Yes, he is," Ichigo nodded. Renji ooh-ed and Ishida gritted his teeth in anger.

"Uwaah! Look at that huge castle!" Orihime chirped. "Ne, Kurosaki-kun, do you think Kuchiki-san is in there?" she tugged Ichigo's black kimono sleeve.

"Huh? What castle?" Ichigo turned around.

"That one! See? The white one!" Orihime released her hand from Ichigo's sleeve and used it to point to the huge white castle-like building far away.

"I'm sure of it. I can feel her reiatsu emitting from that direction," Ishida stated.

"So can I," Renji agreed.

"M-Hm!" Orihime nodded.

"You can?!" Ichigo asked incredulously. He was _shocked_ that he couldn't fell anything. Furrowing his brows and closing his eyes, he concentrated on finding Rukia's reiatsu.

"Well?" Ishida asked as Ichigo opened his eyes.

"Well what?"

"Did you feel it?"

"No. Was she in a room made out of that fancy stone again?" (Yes, he was referring to the Bloodthirst Stone)

"_No_. Her reiatsu is emitting bolder now."

"I can feel nothing," Ichigo shook his head.

"It's not like we _expected_ you to," Renji huffed.

"You don't?" Ichigo asked.

"Nope!" Orihime exclaimed cheerily.

"_Dream on_, Kurosaki. _No one_ expected a moronic reiatsu-oozing container with a living soul like you to feel Kuchiki-san's reiat—scratch that, _anyone_ reiatsu from point blank," Ishida smirked.

"I've gotten better in Hueco Mundo, ya' know!" Ichigo hollered.

"Anyways..." Orihime cut in. "Let's go the that castle then!" she skipped happily towards the pure white castle. Ichigo scowled and followed her groggily. Ishida and Renji smirked triumphantly and silently high five each other. Yes, they came along better terms of each other in Hueco Mundo when they were fighting that damned Szayel Apporro and the frickin' _Kurotsuchi Mayuri_ just _had_ to come and saved the day. What can you say? Mad Scientist have to fight another Mad Scientist, not two sane people who doesn't _spit_ on 'perfection'. (He spat on my fanfic! Hueee...! -weeps-)

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"_So_... Our bet is still on, right?" Rukia asked. She was lying on her bed, hands clasped together behind her head.

"Duh! It's too late to take back your statement now!" Guy Y replied in an irritated tone from a chair outside Rukia's cell. He was grumpy because he has to watch over the '_container_' and is responsible for '_it_'.

"No need to be all snappy! I was _just_ asking! What's the prize, anyway?"

"Eh... I dunno."

"Oh that's just _wonderful_. How _do_ you come up with these stuff?" Rukia remarked sarcastically.

"Well, I doubt you have one, but it is called _the brain_."

"Oh _wow. _I'm learning _so much_ from you," Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Okay, listen here, you--"

Rukia lost him. She could hear the word "midget" here and there, but she had completely lost the main point of his rant. _'Wait a minute! Why did I not use kido to break out of this cell? Ah, screw it_!' she stood up and moved to a certain stance as natural as possible and started chanting the incantation quietly.

"--so back to the point, I—wait, what are you _doing_?" Guy Y stopped his rant and raised an eyebrow on her action.

"...Beyond the seas in reverse, take steps to the south..." Rukia aimed her hand at the lock on her cell. "Hadou no sanjuuichi! Shakka--"

Guy Y reached out his hand and clasped Rukia's, stopping her from finishing the incantation.

"Don't do it. It won't work," he deadpanned.

"You'll never know until you try, right?" Rukia questioned.

"True, but I'm just warning you. This cell right here," he knocked twice on one of the black bars planted firmly in front of Rukia's cell with his other hand, "doesn't take any crap it is given. You won't be able to bust it open without _this_," he used the same hand to take a key from his pocket and hold it up.

"Is it made out of the Bloodthirst Stone?" Rukia's eyes narrowed.

Guy Y shook his head to the sides. "No. You can't find that here. This stone is called the Blood_stained_ stone."

"What's the difference?" she pulled her hand out of his clasp.

"While Bloodthirst Stone provide the shield from the _outside_, _this_ stone provide it from the inside," Guy Y took his hand back and dusted it on his white haori. "If you were to use any kido-based attack, it would've either been repelled back at you or absorbed inside the stone, being used to strengthen its defence."

"So... you were worried about my _wellbeing_?" Rukia raised a delicate eyebrow.

"No. Who do you think will be responsible if your shakkahou _did _repel and hit you dead?"

Rukia snorted and looked away, but she was sure that she saw the smallest hint of pink on Guy Y's cheeks. But as soon as she saw it, if faded away.

"Whatever. I'm going to sleep, blush-face-brown-haired-chin-guy," Rukia yawned and walked over to her white bed.

Guy Y looked bewildered at his 'new and improved' nickname. He can't help but feel that something is amiss, but he shrugged it off his thought as he walked over to his chair.

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**Meanwhile, at the swamp...**

Ichigo brushed another branch to his side, a scowl formed on his face. He and his friends had been stuck in this stupid swamp for two hours and he can take no more of it. He wanted to shunpo to the castle, but Ishida said it's better to save their reiryoku for the fights later. Splash sounds came from below him as he took another step, water raising up his haori slowly.

Scowl still on his face, he turned around and said, "Can I just shunpo now? This is pissing me off, seriously."

His scowl turned into a frown as he found out that his friends were no longer behind him.

"Guys? Where are you?"

Silence answered the orange haired substitute shinigami.

"Guys?"

Then a thought entered his head.

They're lost.

_Crap_.

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**A/N: **I finally finished it! And for some reason, I think it's cute that Guy Y has a little crush on Rukia... Yes, I know you're all thinking, "She made us wait for more than 1 week and all she has come up with is this short, crappy chapter?" I'm sorry!! Writer's block is invading... Oh! And I FINALLY have a information about Bleach III: Fade to Black – Kimi no Na o Yobu! Yay! You can PM me to know the info, if you want, but I don't think it has been confirmed yet, and some of you might already know...

So, first time in a lot of chappies, (Yes, I think that 10 chapters is a lot) REVIEW!


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimers**: I do not own BLEACH.

**A/N**: I won't dilly dally this time. I'm sick, so my brain probably won't be able to produce more ideas for a while, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to be late for the next update. That is all.

Thanks you for **anonymous, Sierra77, auburn-haired-sadist-XD **and **anonymous **(Sofia) for reviewing! It was very much appreciated!

To:

**anonymous**: Yay! Everyone loves blush-face-brown-haired-chin-guy! XD I'll give you the link, in case someone doesn't like spoilers... -search for the website- aah! Here we go: www. mangafox. com/ forums #post225232 (remove the space and you'll get there! I hope...) It's just the basic info about the plot though...

**anonymous **(Sofia): You didn't print it? So I wrote in that lil' book of yours for nothing? Whee! I did something useless again! XD (Yes, I know her in real life, for those who doesn't know)

Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes! Enjoy!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Sixteen_

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"Oi!" Ichigo called out while turning to his sides, searching for his lost nakama. All that appeared in his vision was bunches of green tree leaves, rumbling around as a gust of wind blew past. The small river that his feet is currently in glowed as the setting sun shone on it. The soft flow of the said river caressed his haori hem gently, taunting it to follow the current.

"_Oh_ _crap_..." Ichigo ran a hand through his spiky orange locks. The humid weather is tangling his already tangled hair even more. Sighing, he looked up to the orange and purple sky, which had stay that way from a few hours ago. Then, he casted his gaze back to the white castle and kept it there for awhile. He inhaled deeply and exhaled as he started to advance towards the said white castle, figuring that his friend would probably head there anyway.

Little did he know, his friend was having the same problem.

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"Ne, ne, Ishida-kun? Where is Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked as she followed the bespectacled boy.

Said bespectacled boy turned around and answered, "To tell you the truth, Inoue-san, I do not know."

"Eh?!"

"I seemed to have lost him when he lead the way," Ishida turned back and held a branch to the side so Orihime can pass.

"Sou ka?" Orihime put her index finger on her chin as she passes through the gap the branch has made. "That's not good."

"Indeed it isn't, but I bet he's also going to the white castle and I'm pretty sure that he won't get lost on his way there," Ishida let go of the branch after Orhime passed and continued on walking towards the white castle.

"Ah... Where's Sado-kun and Abarai-kun, then?"

"Huh?"

"I can't see them anywhere," Orihime looked around and double-checked their two friends presence. "Yep, they're not here."

"This is bad. I was sure that they were behind us..."

"I'm sure they're fine, Ishida-kun! Now, I am going to ask you a question," Orihime pushed his back forward with both hands.

"What is it, Inoue-san?"

"Tell me five good reasons why you're in love with Kuchiki-san."

"Five good reasons why I'm in _what_ with _who_?"

"Don't be around the bush, Ishida-kun. We _all _know that you're in love with Kuchiki-san ages ago," Orihime closed her eyes and shook her head to the sides like it's obvious.

Ishida's azure eyes widened in bewilderment. Since when did that—? Who is _feeding_ this girl such _lies_?

"Ano... Inoue-san, I don't know what you are talking about, because it is certainly not true," Ishida answered Orihime's question.

"Really?" Orihime looked disappointed. Ishida bit his tongue for making her look that way.

"Oh well!" she smiled back, "I thought you did. Nobody else believed me though, they keeped on saying that you liked someone warm and cheery with an unusual hair colour..."

"Who says so?" Ishida inquired.

"Kurosaki-kun, Abarai-kun and the others, of course!" Orihime beamed.

_'Those bastards!' _Ishida thought as he crushed a branch that he happened to be holding at the time.

"Ishida-kun, why are you crushing that branch?"

"Be-be-because! It's... in the way, Inoue-san!"

"Ooh! _That_ makes sense! Let's hurry Ishida-kun! We don't want to arrive last now, do we?" Orihime dragged him forward, water splashing as her brown shoe hit the bottom of the green stream.

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Sado quietly moved his legs forward, taking another step. He looked around, wondering if he could spot some of his friends. Not seeing any, he continued on walking, enjoying the warm sunlight on his skin. He smiled upon remembering his time in Mexico with his Abuelo, who had taught him what his fists are made for.

To _protect_.

He remembered all the times when Abuelo would pat him on the back, praising him when he didn't fight back all the guys that ganged up on him. He felt so happy. But when his Abuelo passed away, his will to protect weakened to the point that he almost fight back and take all of his anger on some innocent passerby.

Sado sighed silently as he carefully moved a bunch of branches away from his sight. He squinted, the sun was too bright for his own liking. When he finally opened his eyes, the sight awed him so much that he could not speak.

"...Abuelo?"

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"Bah! Damn these branches!" Renji swung Zabimaru and cleanly cut off the branch in front of him. Like Ichigo, he was getting sick of this swamp. _'Shtoopid green water!' _he kicked the green water below him, without said green water do as much as a flinch of hurt.

"Damn it! I can't get lost! I need to find Rukia! Damn Ichigo and his stupid skill of leading!" he swung Zabimaru and cut off another branch. Luckily, this branch revealed the big gate of the white castle.

"Yatta!" Renji hollered. He quickly ran and pushed open the gate – which has to be at _least_ 100kg. He grinned happily, thinking how he would laugh at Ichigo's face when that strawberry knew that he beat him on saving Rukia. Panting, he leaned against the opened gate, his satisfied grin never leaving his face for a second. As his breathing slowly tuning back to normal, he started walking, following traces of Rukia's reiatsu.

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Guy Y's eyes snapped open. He quickly stood up from his sitting position looking all 'red-alert'.

"What's wrong?" Rukia asked from inside her cell. Of course, she already knew what was wrong. She felt Renji's reiatsu approaching about five minutes ago and had always tried her best to not let her excited emotion shine through her face. Being a Kuchiki that she is, it helped her a whole lot.

Guy Y narrowed his eyes on her. "You know what's wrong."

"What? What is it?" Rukia keeped her eyes on his, her poker-face still going strong.

"Don't try to play dumb with me, woman. I _know_ you felt it, too," he slowly walked to Rukia's cell.

Rukia narrowed her violet orbs and said, "What?"

"You _knew_ that this is going to happen _all along_, didn't you? _Didn't you_?! You _knew_... You _knew_ that... You knew _all along_ that my ice cream is _melting_!"

"Huh?" Rukia accidentally let a stupefied emotion through.

"You _knew _that this room was _way_ too hot for my poor ice cream, yet you didn't tell me! You _traitor_!" he spat the last word disgustedly at Rukia. Literally.

"What the--?! How am _I_ a traitor?! And FYI, you spat on me," Rukia wiped Guy Y's salive off of her face. _'What's ice cream, anyway?'_ she wondered.

"You _knew_ that I love the choco-chip mint flavour! How _could_ you?! How could you, I say!" Guy Y pointed accusingly at Rukia.

"And _you_ knew that _I_ couldn't care less!" Rukia put her hands on her hip.

Oh yeah.

_It's on_.

Guy Y gasped loudly. "Rukia... How could you! After all that we've been through... it's _over_? You're just going to _give up_?! Where is she, Rukia? Where is _my_ Ruki--"

_**POW!**_

"Just when the _hell_ did I become _yours_, moron?!" Rukia seethed.

"Right..." Guy Y rubbed his sore jaw. "You already _have_ a boyfriend. Whoops, I meant _had_."

"No! I didn't have one!"

"Then who's the orange haired punk?"

"He's..." Rukia paused, trying to think of a word that fits her so-called 'relationship' with Ichigo. "A friend. _Just_ a friend."

"_Sure_..." Guy Y rolled his eyes.

"Don't you go all sarcastic on me!"

"_Of course I'm being sarcastic with you_..." Guy Y commented sarcastically, which boiled Rukia's blood yet again.

Rukia gritted her teeth in anger as Guy Y smirked smugly. Then, she took a deep breath to calm down her nerves.

"Well," she started, "At least I don't blush like a little girl, _blush-face-brown-haired-chin-guy_," she turned around on her heels and went to the glass window.

Guy Y blushed regarding her comment. "I do _not_ blush!"

"_Sure ya don't_," Rukia commented sarcastically.

Guy Y gritted his teeth but quickly replaced it with a forced smile.

"And unlike _you_, I will take the _mature_ way out of an argument," he walked away calmly to collect the liquid remains of his choco-chip mint ice cream. "Hiks... My ice cream..."

"Pssh... _What _mature way out?"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"NOTHING!"

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"Horra! Horra! Horra!"

_**CRASH!**_

_**WHAM!**_

_**SPLASH!**_

Ichigo's scowl deepened as he successfully cut another tree down.

_'Timber...!'_ his hollow screamed.

"Shut up," Ichigo seethed.

_'King, have anyone ever tell you that you look extremely stupid talking to yourself?'_

"I don't care."

_'Aww...' _it cooed mockingly. _'What'sa matter, King? Sad about losing your _precious_ Queen?'_

"She ain't my Queen."

_'Sure. Keep telling yourself that and you might be able to convince yourself about 0.0000001 percent.'_

"_Shut up_ _already_!"

Ichigo swung Zangetsu down on a medium-sized branch in front of him, which landed on the watery swamp loudly. He angrily stomped over it and decided to ignore Ishida's lousy piece of advice and started shunpo-ing. His scowl softened as he – _finally_ – saw the white gate that had been pushed open by Renji.

"Someone got here before I did?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow. He tried to feel the said someone's reiatsu but couldn't. He felt as if something is blocking his senses. The only 'clue' he has is a strand of crimson red hair left by the door.

Ichigo crouched down and carefully inspected the 'crime scene'. His eyebrows furrowed even deeper as he tried to analyze who is it that opened the door before him.

_'Let's see... Who has red hair... Ishida has bluish-black hair... Sado has deep brown hair... Inoue has burnt orange hair... and Renji...' _Ichigo paused his train of thoughts for a second. _'Renji... What was his hair colour again? Let's see... I can vaguely remember pineapple... pineapple... pineapple is yellow... So his hair is yellow? Oh why the hell not? So whose hair is this?!' _he gripped the hair tightly in frustration.

"Whatever!" he stood up and threw the hair onto the floor. After giving it a stern glare, he started walking towards the one-way path.

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"Ishida-kun! Look! Look! The gate has been opened!" Orihime pointed out.

"Indeed. I wonder who has done it..." Ishida replied.

"Look what I found!" Orihime ran towards the door. "A strand of red hair... Who could it be?"

"Ano... Inoue-san, don't you think its--"

"It _must_ be one of those las incógnitas!" Orihime made a fist eagerly with her left hand. "Oh well!" she threw the 'mysterious' red hair away and started walking. "Let's go Uryuu! Oh! Gomenasai! Can I call you Uryuu, Ishida-kun?" she asked with a blush on her cheeks. After all, he is the third person that she had call with his given name—after Tatsuki and Rangiku, of course.

"It's fine, Inoue-sa--"

"Uh, uh, uh!" Orihime cut in and shook her head to the sides.

Ishida raised and eyebrow. "What's wrong, Inoue-sa--"

"Ssh!"

"Inoue-sa--"

"Wup!"

Ishida is bewildered. After he _finally_ gets it, he said, "Inoue-sama--"

"Mou, Uryuu!"

"Okay then... Ino--"

Orihime cut him off with the 'look'. Ishida gulped.

"Uh... Ori... Hime... -san?" Ishida raised his eyebrows cautiously.

Orihime's face lighted up. "Yay! You finally get it, Uryuu! But you can drop the -san if you want to!" she beamed.

"Okay... Shall we go then, Hime?" Ishida started walking inside the castle. Orihime stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"N-Nothing!" Orihime followed him with a smile. For some reason, she felt special after being called 'Hime'. It felt different than when Chizuru does it.

_'I wonder why?'_

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Renji raised an eyebrow as he finds himself in a familiar situation.

"Hmm... Three paths, huh?"

Standing upon him is the intersection of three hallways, each doesn't look as if you could walk through them in a mere 15 minutes. Sighing, he decided to take the right one and started walking.

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Ichigo stared wide-eye at the three hallways. He had to choose a hallway _again_. Hueco Mundo was enough for him, he does _not_ want to take anymore chances.

"Ah, look! It's Kurosaki-kun!"

Ichigo turned around to see Ishida and Orihime running towards him. Orihime waved her arms eagerly as she beam, Ishida running beside her.

"Osu, Ishida, Inoue!" Ichigo greeted.

"Hi, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime chirped.

"Kurosaki," Ishida gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. "So... We have to choose _again_?" he continued, noticing the three hallways behind Ichigo.

"Yeah..." Ichigo answered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Look, Uryuu! The red-haired person went to the right one!" Orihime pointed at a strand of red hair on the floor, slightly inside the right hallway.

"Uryuu... huh?" Ichigo shot Ishida an all-knowing look. Ishida shot a stern look back and Ichigo raised his hands defensively.

"Do you think so, Hime?" Ishida asked Orihime.

"Hime... huh?" Ichigo grinned at Ishida.

"Oh shut your mouth, Kurosaki," Ishida blushed and turned away.

"'Kay then, I'll take the left one," Ichigo took a step towards the right hallway.

"And I'll take the center," Ishida stated.

"I... Um..." Orihime paused for awhile to think. "I'll go with Uryuu, is that okay?"

"Yeah! _Of course_ it's okay!" Ichigo grinned and secretly gave Ishida a thumb-up which the Quincy blushed at.

"Great! So... As soon as we save Kuchiki-san, we'll go back, right?" Orihime asked.

"Yes. And if you find a dead-end, go back here and choose another hallway. The person who saves Kuchiki-san have to leave a mark here as he or she go out, so the others will know when to stop searching and go out, agree?" Ishida suggested.

Ichigo and Orihime nodded at the same time.

"See y'all, then!" Ichigo shunpo-ed to his destined hallway as Ishida and Orihime ran towards theirs.

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**A/N**: I know, short chapter. I'm sorry about that. But look how close I am to the 50th review! So... as a prize for the 50th reviewer, I'll tell them... DUN DUN DUN... Guy Y's true name! Sorry, it's not very exciting, but I can think of nothing else. Remember, I'm sick, so my brain doesn't work out properly!


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer**: I don't own BLEACH.

**A/N:** I know I'm late and I'm really sorry :( I've been busy lately with school, but I've rewritten chapter 1! and to be honest, I'm having some problem with the fighting parts... That is all. ) Oh, and I'm REALLY REALLY sorry about being a review whore lately. I'm kinda unmotivated. SORRY!!

**To**...

**JaelyWuvHanatoro**: -grins- I couldn't help but put some IshiHime here. I hope you don't mind... Do you?

**Anonymous**: I hope the link is useful... Maybe it wasn't... If it wasn't, sorry!

I'm sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Enjoy!

Oh, and BTW, since I couldn't really PM the 50th reviewer (s/he didn't have/use her/his account), I'll just reveal Guy Y's name in this chapter. Is that okay? (You: NOO!!) No? Oh, well. But I'll still reveal his name XP (You: NUUUUU!!)

**Edit**: I'm sorry! I have to rewrite this, since **auburn-haired-sadist-XD** pointed out the errors that I made. Not good, Moonlight! Not Good! SOOO SOORRRYYY!! TTTT But, thanks to you, I've rewritten it, and it somehow got better! Yay!

**P.S:** My Fanfiction thing isn't working right, so I'm sorry if I can't repliy to one of your awesome review!

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Seventeen_

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_**CLANG!**_

Renji grimaced as Zabimaru's sharp edge collided with Alerta's katana.

_'Damn it. I shouldn't have pick this path!'_

_Flashback..._

_Renji quickened his pace as he strode along the pale white hallway, feeling slightly more excited than usual. His crimson red hair swayed ever so slightly with each long steps that he took. He stopped for awhile and squinted his eyes at the end of the hallway, his tattooed eyebrows furrowing together at the center._

_He couldn't see the end of this hallway._

_Renji halted. His eyes narrowed into thin lines and he quickly hide behind a corner, his back to the wall as he listened carefully to the footsteps echoing inside the plain hall. He gulped, anticipating the enemy he's going to face—or should I say, _enemies_? His teeth made a small clinking sound as he gritted them together gently. His enemies-he figured that there was two of them since there was two voices- chatting quite animatedly, not noticing his quickly fading reiatsu a single bit._

_Renji took a stance, his hand ready on Zabimaru's handle, prepared to unsheathe it when needed._

"_Ara, and who do we have _here_?"_

_Renji's eyes widened as he turned around and realized that his enemies was standing right behind him. He quick pulled Zabimaru out and gave his enemies a swing, but missed. He realized that his enemies—weren't his enemies, just enemy. _

_A female. Not short, not tall, hourglass figure, with flowing golden hair and mesmerizing green eyes that bares holes into Renji's shocked face. Renji grimaced. Does he has to fight a woman? This is not the gentleman's way. Although, he had to admit, he was never the gentleman type himself._

_The female enemy smirked, her small lips curving upwards gently._

"_Ara? It's not polite to swing your blade down at someone you barely know, stranger," she said._

"_Che, I don't need manners when I got the attitudes," Renji replied._

_She popped an eyebrow. "It sure doesn't seem like it, honey."_

_Renji gaped slightly. "_Honey_? Since when am I--"_

_He never did get to finish his sentence. His _female_ enemy had swung _her_ blade down on him. Well, she _tried_ to, but failed. Renji had jumped out of the way before the small tip of the blade even touch as much as a single strand of his crimson hair. He readied Zabimaru as he landed and moved to one of his battle stances._

"_You got a pretty good reflex there, darling," her smirk got even higher._

"_And you said _I'm_ impolite," Renji commented._

"_I never said I wasn't."_

_She leaps up and grins when she pulled her right arm back, bringing her sword with her and swung it down once again, colliding it with Zabimaru._

_End of Flashback..._

"By the way, I'm Alerta, one of the las incógnitas," she smiled as Renji pushed Zabimaru harder, pressuring her to go back.

"And I'm Abarai Renji, the 6th squad lieutenant. Nice to meet'cha!" he pushed Alerta away with Zabimaru and yelled, "Howl, Zabimaru!"

Zabimaru changed its shape into a long-ranged sword with teeth baring at Alerta and Renji thrusts it forward. Alerta slashed it away just in time.

"Lieutenant, huh? You sure don't look like one," she smiled.

"Why don't you just shut your mouth and do the ressureccíon already?" Renji asked roughly as Zabimaru returned to its normal state.

Alerta giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"You sweet, naïve little boy. Didn't you know why _we're_ here?" Alerta dived down at Renji with super speed, her sword ready by her side. Renji grimaced and brought Zabimaru in front of his face, preparing for the attack she's going to deliver.

_**CLANG!**_

"We're here because we're failures. Meaning that we're imperfect. Perfection is something that we strife for, but cannot achieve," Alerta said between the clashes of her sword and Renji's zanpakuto. "But, we're not _that_ bad of a failure that Aizen-sama need to get rid of us," her dainty feet made frictions as she slides back from the last clash.

"Why do you care about what Aizen-taich—_Aizen_ said? He's dead. _And _he's a traitor. There's no use mourning over it _now_," Renji swung Zabimaru to Alerta's side. She realized it a little bit too late and Zabimaru ripped her white uniform sleeve and slashed her upper part of the arm. Unfortunately, she was quick enough _not_ to let it go any further than it already has and leaped up.

"Looks like this all is taking a toll on you," Renji commented when he saw Alerta gasping for air. His eyes narrowed once again as he noticed a sudden change in her reiatsu.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK THAT WAY ABOUT AIZEN-SAMA!"

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"Uryuu... Do you know where we are?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't Hime... I believe this one path hallway is leading us to a single chamber, based on my assumptions on these symbols," Ishida gestured with his hands the symbols that were drawn on the wall.

"What do you think ours would lead to?" Orihime asked.

"I believe it would be..." Ishida paused for awhile to analyzed the strange symbols while Orihime made small circles with the tip of her brown shoe. "This hallway will end... with a chamber... a _cell_ to be more accurate..." Ishida held his chin with his index finger and thumb, looking all detective-like.

Orihime beamed. "Do you think it's Kuchiki-san's chamber?"

"It could be, but I don't--"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" she grabbed his hand and started skipping along the hallway, pulling Ishida along, obviously oblivious of the blush that had bloomed on the either side of Ishida's cheeks.

"Aah! Look at this cool-looking symbol I found!" Orihime pulled Ishida beside her, who is all ready to inspect the said symbol.

The blue-haired boy hmm-ed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, deep in thought. Orihime hummed happily as she semi-circled him, glad to find a clue to their whereabouts.

"Hime... Can you come here for a moment?"

Orihime skipped over to Ishida's right side. "Hai, Uryuu?"

"I can pretty much know what this means," he pointed to a swirling graphic on the bottom corners of the symbol, "But, I am quite confused as of what to do with the rest of the graphics. It has no references to any legends or myth, as the other symbols I had found. What do you think?" he looked over to Orihime, who was deeply in thought, softly rubbing her chin with her index finger.

"I think..." she begin, "That this," she pointed out to one figure in the symbol, "Looks like a rabbit! Don't you think so, Uryuu?" she grinned.

"Uh... Er... Yes... But--"

"Ooh! And what's more, the rabbit looked as if it was being carried away by... wait what's _that_? A... tanuki...? Oh, it _is_ a tanuki! Yeah, a tanuki!"

"But... but...!"

"And it looks like one of Kuchiki-san's wonderful drawings!" Orihime clasped her hands together. "Ne, Ishida-kun? Am I right?"

Ishida stood frozen in the middle of the hallway, not believing that the symbol that he thought was impossible to decipher, being easily deciphered by the bubbly girl with a heckuva' lot of imaginations beside him. Said bubbly girl beamed at him warmly, and he responded with a small smile.

"Whatever you say, O' Hime-sama," Ishida bows politely to Orihime.

"Mou, Uryu...! I told you not to--! Mou!" Orihime pouted in frustration.

Ishida chuckled. "Okay then, O' Hime-sama, shall we go?" he offered her his hand.

Orihime looked up to his smiling face and her pout disappeared. Instead, she smiled prettily and took his hand.

"Un!"

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"When the _hell_ does this freakin' hallway ends!" Ichigo mumbled to himself, tired of shunpo-ing to the end of this hallway, which he did not accomplish. He placed his hands on his knees and doubled over, trying to gather some more of his reiatsu.

_'Oi, King, are you sure you're going the right way?'_ his hollow asked mockingly.

"Of course I'm sure!" he replied.

_'Yes, yes. _You're_ sure. Of course! But with your absolutely preposterous sense of direction I doubt--'_

"I do _not_ have a preposterous sense of direction! Just shut up and let me be, okay?!" Ichigo started shunpo-ing again.

_'Sure, King. But let me tell you one thing. Your Queen--'_

"She's not my _Queen_!"

_'As if I care, she's with another guy right now.'_

Ichigo halted.

"Huh?"

His hollow sighed. His King could be so stupid sometimes. _'Yes, King. She... is... with... a... no... ther... guy... right... now... Do... you... un... der... stand..._?' it said the words very _very_ slowly, as if it's talking to a 4 year-old boy.

"N-No, she ain't," Ichigo decided to ignore his hollow little comment and continued on shunpo-ing.

_'Yes, she is.'_

"No, she's _not_!"

_'Yes, she _is_!'_

Ichigo sighed. His hollow could be so stupid sometimes. "No, she's not! Why would she be? She's a _hostage_ for goodness' sake. Why the hell would a _guy—_scratch that, _anyone_ be with her? Unless he's her guard or something, which I'm sure she has no--"

_'He _is_ her guard. And he's getting closer to her. Mentally, I mean.'_

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Is his hollow actually making a _point_ without _mocking_ him? What in all Seiretei just happened?

"Yeah? Well, I don't believe you."

_'You should, because she ain't pushing him back.'_

"Still don't believe you..."

_'He's eventually going to be closer to her than we are, you know.'_

"Not... Listening..."

_'You can say that all you want, but the fact that you actually lo--'_

"I do NOT love her!"

_'... I never said that... King, King, King... Why would you _ever_ assume that I was going to say something like _that_?'_ Ichigo felt his hollow raised its eyebrow inside him.

"Uhm... because... Eto..." Ichigo searched for comeback and found none.

_'Because it's true?'_

"NO!"

_'Liar.'_

"I am not a liar!"

_'Liar, liar, pants on fire.'_

"I am not a liar, and my pants are NOT on fire! I'm not even wearing pants right now! It is called, haori, in fact, and--"

_'Liar, liar, haori pants on fire.'_

"Okay, you're getting annoying now. Shut up."

_'Nah. A horse never shut up when its master told it to.'_

"Listen here you--"

"EEEEK!!" a scream—shriek—filled the hallway.

Ichigo stopped his conversation with his hollow upon realizing whose the scream—shriek belongs to.

"Rukia!"

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"Abu... elo...?" Sado stepped slowly towards his Abuelo, who stood still in the middle of rays of sunshine passing through the leaf of the green swamp. A wind blew by, gently rustling Sado's dark brown hair into tangles. He kept on walking towards his Abuelo steadily, not wavering a single bit. His mouth formed a thin, firm line as took another step forward.

"Abuelo... Is that really... you?"

His Abuelo stood still, his back facing the curious and astonished Sado, who kept on walking forward.

"Abuelo--"

Sado didn't get to finish his sentence. Maybe it's because his Abuelo had just disappeared form his sight. Sado's brown orbed widened as he turned around swiftly to catch any signs of Abuelo. Assured that _that_ wasn't his Abuelo, he slowly activate Brazo Derecha de Gigante, his eyes still shifting form one side to another.

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Abrumadora smirked from a top of a tree branch. He has successfully fooled that human with the unusual right arm by his illusion. He stood up, carefully examining the process of Sado's reiatsu enveloping his right arm, slowly forming a black and red armor around it.

Abrumadora's smirk widened.

_'This is gonna be fun.'_

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"EEEK!" Rukia screeched.

"SHUT UP, WOMAN!" Guy Y seethed.

"I WILL NOT! Now put me down!" she ordered him.

"I CANNOT! My lord had given me his very order to examine the power if Hougyoku inside you once again!" Guy Y tightened his grip on Rukia's shoulder as he carried her on his arms. His long awaited destination is the laboratory, which seemed so far away because of the small midget in his arms.

"I refuse to be carried by someone that I don't even know the name of! Now let me go! Let me go, you mustard!" Rukia pounded his chest.

"Mustard?"

"Yes, you're a mustard. Got a problem with that, _mustard_?"

"Why a mustard?"

"Because you're a stupid bastard who won't tell me your name!" Rukia pound harder.

"If I tell you my name, would you quit pounding my chest?!"

"Maybe," Rukia slowed down her pounding.

Guy Y sighed. "It's--"

"Yes...?" Rukia raised an eyebrow. Guy Y sighed.

"Look, do I _really_ have to tell my name?"

"Yes."

"Fine, then. But don't laugh," Guy Y warned.

Rukia bursts out laughing, making a vein popped on Guy Y's head.

"You--!"

"Ha ha! Sorry, sorry... Kinda got out of control there. But seriously, what is it?" Rukia wiped a small tear that formed at the corner of her eye.

"It's..." Guy Y took a deep breath, "Entendimiento."

Silence enveloped the room.

"Why would I laugh at that name?" Rukia inquired.

"Because... Well, _just_ because," Guy Y--Entendimiento answered.

"I don't think it's a funny name... It means understanding, right?"

He nodded.

"Well then, I have absolutely _no idea_ how did that meaningful name got to be _your_ name, but, I like it," Rukia hmm-ed, watching Guy Y--Entendimiento's face lighted up.

"Thanks," he smiled.

Rukia smirked and as she had considered before, stopped her pounding.

"No problem... Now get me DOWN!"

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"Uryuu, what was that?" Orihime stopped.

"It sounded like..." Ishida left the sentence hanging.

"Kuchiki-san's scream?" Orihime finished the sentence for him, worried painted on her pretty face.

Ishida quickly tugged Orihime's hand. "Lets' go, Orihime."

Orihime nodded and quickly ran to the near end of the hallway with him.

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**A/N: **Short chapter, I know, and I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Writer's block invaded me, and IF you're reading this A/N right now, you would know that I am making an IchiRuki Doujin! Yay! So I'm very very SORRY!! Honto ni GOMENASAIIIII!! TT-TT


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the awesomeness that is BLEACH.

**A/N: **I'm very late, I know, and I'm very sorry. School had been manipulating me, and I can't really help that, so I'm very, very sorry. :(

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**Perfection**

_Chapter Eighteen_

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"Ah! Look, Uryuu! There's a chamber right there!" Orihime ran towards a small chamber in the distance, still pulling Uryuu by his hand. "Do you think Kuchiki-san is the--"

_**CRASH!**_

"Damn. I missed."

Orihime stared wide-eyed at her almost-attacker. Uryuu had her in his arm, just like how he did when they were in Seireitei, his dark blue eyes narrowed down to slits, his lips forming a firm line.

"U... Uryuu..." Orihime stammered, as she gestured for him to let her down. He didn't get it.

Or maybe, he just didn't want to let go.

"Heh. What's wrong? Afraid that I'm gonna take your woman?"

Uryuu's frown deepened. "Who are you? Judging by your appearance, you're one of the las incógnitas."

"Hmm?" he raised an eyebrow and swung his blunt blade edge to his shoulder. "Don't anyone ever told you _not_ to judge a book by its cover?" he smirked.

Uryuu didn't reply. Instead, he tightened his grip on Orihime's shoulder. She cringed as the pain slowly rose up her limb, but chose not to mention it to Uryuu. Her bright brown eyes rolled to the sight of her almost-attacker, observing his appearance. He had a bright yellow hair which flows down to his back and a pair of dark purple eyes that seems to be able to see through anything. His tanned skin go along well with his white garment, which is tattered and ripped here and there. The dark brown sheath of his sword is besides his right hip, tied with a black tattered sash.

_'__He must be a left-handed person,'_ Orihime thought after observing him carefully.

"Hime, are you okay?" Uryuu asked, with his eyes still pinned to the opponent.

"I—I'm fine, Uryuu. You can let me go now if you want," she answered. Uryuu agreed and let her shoulder go. She gave him a small smile which he didn't seem to notice.

"I'll ask again, who are you?" Uryuu re-asked his question, his narrow blue eyes not blinking for even one second.

The opponent smirked.

"I believe it's my right whether I am to say my name or not. Am I right?" he swung his blade down, pointing it at Uryuu. "Now... Shall we start?"

Uryuu nodded slightly as the luminescent blue glow spread out of his amulet, forming a web-like bow on his right hand. He quickly swung said hand to the left, so that it faced his opponent.

"We shall."

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_**CLANG!**_

Renji grimaced as he jumped out of the way, evading Alerta's sword just in time. Her cold ice-blue eyes pierced his as he landed five feet away from her. She quickly retaliates and charged at him, gritting her teeth together as she does so.

Renji readied his stance, the released form of Zabimaru in front of him, ready to battle against Alerta's katana. He gritted his teeth and moved forward, making his chance of winning this clash bigger.

_**CLANG!**_

"You insolent fool! No one talks about Aizen-sama that way!" Alerta forced her katana on Zabimaru, who in turn, bared its fang. Renji, noticing the slight enhancing of power from her side, force Zabimaru forward and pushed her back.

Alerta's feet made a little friction before she leaps up to the air, pulling her right hand, along with the word, back.

Renji kept his stance and brought Zabimaru to his face to defend him, but just before Alerta's katana collided with it, she disappeared.

_**SLASH**_

Renji felt the pain shot up his back and quickly turn around and slashed the air in front of him. Sensing that she's nowhere near him anymore, he took a moment to breathe and savor the clean air around him.

Warm blood flowed down his wound, which spreads halfway across his back diagonally. The cut is quite deep, it's deep enough to make him gasps for air in desperation as his eyes searched around for a familiar figure.

"Behind you."

Renji turned around and slashed Alerta's with Zabimaru. Her eyes widened as she quickly stepped away from Renji, her left hand holding her fresh cut.

"Not too shabby," she commented.

Renji grinned, still taking short gasps to breathe. "Why did you warn me back then?"

Alerta raised an eyebrow as she tightened her clutch on her katana, compensating the pain she felt on the right side of her stomach. "What... warning?" she said as her breath is getting shorter.

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"Rukia! Where are you!" Ichigo ran down the pristine white hallway, following Rukia's "faint" reiatsu. "Ruki--!" he stopped his sentence as something piqued his interest.

He just passed a colossal white double-door that was on his left side. He took a few steps back and pushed one of the doors open, revealing a laboratory that was so complex, it might even beat Mayuri's. An ample ball was located in the middle, black was its colour. From the center of it, white-lightning is thundering and it occasionally managed to slip a few of its essence outside, before disappearing completely right away.

Ichigo walked towards the black sphere, his hand reaching out.

_'This feeling... it's... familiar...'_

"Ichigo?!"

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Sado turned around, observing the quiet serene surrounding carefully. His opponent has yet to reveal himself and Sado doesn't want to take any chances. Blue reiatsu oozed out of his right arm continuously.

Abrumadora grinned. "Well, isn't he an interesting one."

Sado quickly fired _El Directo_ towards the whisper he heard, which was on a tree top. It hits right on target, revealing a small figure behind a misty yellow shield.

Sado narrowed his eyes on the said figure. As the shield slowly disassembled into million of little glass-like pieces, the figure stepped out of his used-to-be shield.

"We finally meet," he grinned. His short midnight blue hair slowly rustled by the soft wind, his eyes revealing no evil. He has no weapon whatsoever with him. For a moment, he actually caught Sado off guard.

He jumped down of the treetop and reached his hand out, waiting for Sado to take it. Sado hesitated.

"Well?" Abrumadora asked. "Aren't you going to take my hand and shake it?"

Sado shook his head calmly.

"Well, that's too bad. I really wanted to know your name..." he took his hand back to his side.

"Before I kill you."

He vanished from Sado's sight in point one millisecond. Sado sensed his reiatsu from behind him and blocked his attack.

"A quick one also, I see," Abrumadora grinned sadistically. Sado noticed that the kind glimmer from his eyes vanished, an atrocious glint replacing it. Abrumadora jumped backward and landed softly on the swampy ground, making a little ripple in the water.

"Where's your sword?" Sado asked.

"Sword? I have no use for such things," Abrumadora answered nonchalantly before leaping up to punch Sado again.

Sado launched another _El Directo_ at him and this time, Abrumadora had no moment to prepare his yellow shield.

"AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!" Abrumadora screamed as the blast of reiatsu hits him directly.

Sado quickly develop his _Brazo Izquierda del Diablo_.

"_La Muerte_."

Abrumadora collided with Sado's right fist and hit the swamp. As his back touched the ground, a big mark of skull appeared on the swamp. The impact is not something anything can survive, not even Espadas.

Sado landed on the ground with a small splash. Small drops of sweats flowed down his face as he tries to control his breathing.

After his breathing calmed down, he calmly walked towards the white castle, slowly turning his arms back to normal.

"Don't tell me that you actually thought that I was dead."

Sado eyes widened before he felt a kick to his face. The impact of said kick send him through a dozen trees and into the shallow water.

Abrumadora crossed his arms together, waiting for Sado to come back up. His wish was granted. Sado stood back up in less than 15 seconds. The shock is still written clearly on his face, but he already turned both his arms into _Brazo Derecha de Gigante_ and _Brazo Izquierda de Diablo_.

"How... Are you still alive?" Sado asked as he wiped the red blood that was trickling down the corner of his mouth.

"Haa..?! What do you mean by that? I switched soul, you idiot!" Abrumadora yelled in an obvious tone.

"Switched... soul?"

"Yes! For goodness sake! Didn't you notice that I _act_ differently?"

"... Yes."

"There you go! It's as easy as that!"

"So... Does that mean I have to... defeat you again?"

"..." a sour look was drawn on Abrumadora's small face. "Well what do you think, smartass?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Sado charged forward and punch Abrumadora's flew back, but recoiled before he hits a tree, putting his feet onto it and using the tree as a jumping board.

Sado brought his _Brazo Derecha de Gigante_ and blocked Abrumadora's kick. Then, he punch him with _Brazo Izquierda de Diablo_ and Abrumadora conflicted with the ground.

"I'm sorry," Sado said quietly.

"Sorry, my ass," Abrumadora swiped Sado's legs with his, making Sado tripped sideway. Abrumadora managed to land a kick on his side stomach, sending him flying about 20 feet away.

Abrumadora stood up and dusted his white garment. "Is that all you got? If it is, you're pathetic."

Sado lie down, taking his own sweet time for a moment. From what he have seen, the kid is boastful and will probably not come here before saying a whole mouthful about how pathetic Sado is. Sighing, he managed to get up and cracked his fists before walking towards Abrumadora.

"So, you're not as pathetic as I thought you were," Abrumadora smirked mockingly.

Sado shook his head to the sides slowly.

"Alright then, let's end this," his smirk turned into a sadistic grin. His right arm is enveloped in yellow reiatsu that flares up to the sky, resembling a fire.

"... Okay," Sado passively agreed, and put all of his reiatsu to his right arm. "_La Muerte_."

Both let out a yell of war before colliding their fists against each other. A massive amount of reiatsu going against each other at the same time, creating a huge explosion of blue and yellow reiatsu.

As the smoke calmed down, two figures was seen standing. The smaller one had an odd grin attached to his face.

"Sorry, Ichigo..."

Sado fell down to the swamp and passed out. Abrumadora grinned got even larger before he managed to walked away.

"Seems like I've wo--"

Before he finished up his sentence, Abrumadora coughed up a large amount of blood. He quickly brought his hands to his mouth, trying to prevent more blood coming out, but it is to no avail.

"Wha—What's happening?" Abrumadora looked at his body. His eyes widened as he discovers that a skull-shaped emblem has been imprinted through his stomach. Blood oozed through his deep wound as he coughed up even more.

"This... _**cough**_... can't be... **_cough_**... happening!" he said in between the fit of coughs.

"Heh, turns out that I'm the pathetic one, huh?" he whispered hoarsely as he fall down with a thump onto the swamp before disintegrating into thin air.

"I'm sorry, _my lord_..."

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**A/N: **Sorry for such a sucky battle! I just need to clear them up one by one! And I'm also sorry for the crappy chapter! I'm sorry!

One question, though...

**IS THERE ANYONE WHO IS OOC?**

Please answer this question, I really need to know...


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